Humans ; Aconitine/analysis* ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Poisoning/diagnosis*

OBJECTIVETo establish a capillary electrophoresis with field-amplified sample stacking method for the separation and determination of aconitine alkaloid in Guifudihuang pills.

METHODAn uncoated fused-silica capillary column (50 microm x 43 cm, effective length 35 cm) was used. The running buffer was 50 mmol x L(-1) phosphate electrolyte solution (pH 4.6)-methanol (8:2). The runing voltage was 10 kV and the capillary inlet was dipped in methanol for 5 s prior to electrokinetic injection (10 kV, 40 s). The detection wavelength was 235 nm.

RESULTThis method allowed 500 fold enrichment of aconitine alkaloid. A good linear relation was obtained in the range of 31.3-2 x 10(3) microg x L(-1) (r = 0.9996), with the detection limit of 9.4 microg x L(-1). The average recovery was 98.0% with the RSD of 2.6%.

CONCLUSIONThe method is simple, rapid and specific with high stacking efficiency; it provides a new reliable means for production and quality control of Guifudihuang pills.

Aconitine ; analysis ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; chemistry ; Electrophoresis, Capillary ; methods ; Reproducibility of Results

OBJECTIVETo study the processing principles of different processed products of Aconitum pendulum.

METHODUsing high performance liquid chromatography and acute toxicity test to compare the changes in chemical composition and toxicity of the roots and processed products of A. pendulum.

RESULTThe main toxic components of the roots of A. pendulum were aconitine, deoxyaconitine and 3-acetylaconitine. The contents of these three alkaloids were significantly reduced in processed products, while benzoylaconitine significantly increased. In addition, processed products emerged aconine, polyschistine-D, beyzoyldeoxyaconine, 16-epi-pyroaconitine and 16-epi-pyrodeoxyaconitine. From the structural analysis, these new emerged compounds transformed from the aconitine, deoxyaconitine and 3-acetylaconitine.

CONCLUSIONDifferent processing methods can reduce the toxicity of the roots of A. pendulum. Processing principle is ester hydrolysis and high-temperature pyrolysis.

Aconitine ; analogs & derivatives ; analysis ; Aconitum ; chemistry ; toxicity ; Animals ; Female ; Male ; Mice

To establish a method for the content determination of indexes for measuring aconitic compounds contained in Shenfu injection, in order to provide basis for the evaluation of the curative effect of monkshood in Shenfu injection. The sample were purified and enriched with HF-LPME. ACQUITY UPLC BEH C18 column (2.1 mm x 50 mm, 1.7 microm) was adopted and eluted with a gradient program, with acetonitrile-10 mmol x L(-1) NH4HCO3 (pH 10) as the mobile phases. The flow rate was 0.45 mL x min(-1). The content was determined with ESI and MRM. The results showed that aconitine, hypaconitine and mesaconitine showed a good linear relationship, with r > 0.999, within the range of 0.1-100 ng x L(-1). The recoveries were detected to be 100.1%, 97.4%, 97.5%, with RSD being 1.2%, 1.1%, 1.5%, respectively. This method was used to prove the safety of Shenfu injection, and provide scientific basis for correct evaluation of curative effect of monkshood, as well as a reliable, simple and practical means for quality control of monkshood-containing Chinese materia medica preparations.
Aconitine ; analogs & derivatives ; analysis ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; Mass Spectrometry ; methods ; Quality Control

OBJECTIVETo set up a capillary electrophoresis method with field-amplified sample injection for the determination f aconitine and hypaconitine in Gucixiaotong Ye.

METHODAn uncoated fused-silica capillary column (50 microm x 50 cm, effective length 42 cm) was used as the separation channel. The running buffer was 50 mmol x L(-1) phosphate electrolyte solution (pH 9)-m nol (90:10) , the running voltage was 10 kV and the capillary inlet was dipped in methanol for 5 s prior to electrokinetic injection (12 kV, 30 s), the detection wavelength was set at 235 nm.

RESULTAconitine and hypaconitine were linear in the concentration ranges of 17.2-275 microg x L(-1) and 34. 4-550 microg x L(-1), respectively. The average recovery was more than 93.9% with the RSD of 3.8%. This method could enrich 500 fold of aconitine alkaloid.

CONCLUSIONThe method is simple, rapid and specific with high stacking efficiency, it provides a new reliable means for production and quality control of Gucixiaotong Ye.

Aconitine ; analogs & derivatives ; analysis ; isolation & purification ; Buffers ; Electricity ; Electrophoresis, Capillary ; methods ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Injections ; Solutions ; Time Factors

This present study is to develop an HPLC method for simultaneous determination of four diester diterpenoid alkaloids, beiwutine, mesaconitine, hypaconitine and aconitine in the leaves of Aconitum kusnezoffii, so as to provide evidence of the quality control of this herb. The four constituents were measured on a Waters XBridge CC₁₈ column(4.6 mmχ250 mm, 5 μm). The mobile phase was acetonitrile-40 mmol·L⁻¹ ammonium acetate solution(adjusted pH to 10.5 with ammonia solution)(33:67) with isocratic elution at a flow rate of 1.0 mL·min⁻¹; the detection wavelength was 235 nm; the column temperature was 30 °C, and the injection volume was 10 μL. Next, this contents of the four diester diterpenoid alkaloids in 12 samples were 0.025 5-0.088 5, 0.039 1-0.071 5, 0.026 6-0.081 0 and 0.008 12-0.031 2 mg·g⁻¹, respectively. Next, this method has been successfully applied to the analysis of A. kusnezoffii folium in different harvest periods. The contents of the four alkaloids decreased primarily, and then increased with the postponing of harvest. The established method is proved to be accurate and sensitive for the determination of alkaloids in A. kusnezoffii folium, and may be useful for the quality improvement of this herbal medicine. Moreover, these results indicated the scientific significance for the toxicity and the suitable harvest time of this herb.
Aconitine ; analysis ; Aconitum ; chemistry ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Diterpene Alkaloids ; analysis ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Phytochemicals ; analysis ; Plant Leaves ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry

In this study, we explored the rationality of processing methods and mechanism of Aconiti Lateralis Radix (Fuzi) through comparing the chemical contents of diester alkaloids (DAs) and monoester alkaloids (MAs) in the raw material of Fuzi and its processed products. The results showed that the toxicity potency of MAs is at least lower than 1/64 to 1/180 of the toxicity potency of DAs. The contents of DAs in processed Fuzi decreased to 1/76.5 to 1/38.3 of the value of raw Fuzi. The contents of MAs in processed Fuzi significantly increased by 4.6 to 5.2 fold or basically the same as that of the raw Fuzi. The values of MAs/DAs of processed Fuzi were enhanced by 30 to 390 fold of the raw Fuzi. It was found that the contents of DAs were insignificantly different between "Wu dan fu pian" (steaming or stir-frying without Danba) and "Dan fu pian" (steaming or stir-frying with Danba). The result suggested that the abilities of "eliminating toxicity" of different processing methods were equivalent at all. In contrast, the contents of MAs contained in "Wu dan fu pian" were of 5.3 to 8.7 fold higher than the values in "Dan fu pian". This result suggested the processing method by steaming or stir-frying without Danba might have better effect for "conserving property" than the method processed with Danba stipulated by China Pharmacopoeia. We believe that the new processing method without Danba can be recommended in further application due to it offers a simple procedure and it will not introduce inorganic impurities in the products.
Aconitine ; analogs & derivatives ; analysis ; toxicity ; Aconitum ; chemistry ; Animals ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Cluster Analysis ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; toxicity ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Technology, Pharmaceutical ; methods

Some Chinese herbal medicine needs to be processed before it can be used as medicine, especially toxic Chinese medicine. Highly toxic Aconti Kusnezoffii Radix(Caowu in Chinese) is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine and Mongolian medicine. In traditional Chinese medicine, Caowu is usually processed by boiling with water(CW) until no white part inside and being tasted without tongue-numbing. In Mongolian medicine, it is usually soaked in Chebulae Fructus(Hezi in Chinese) decoction for several days(CH). Both methods could reduce toxicity according to reports. The biggest difference between CW and CH is that CW needs to be heated for 4-6 h, while CH needs Hezi as processing adjuvants. To explore the toxicity reduction mechanism of CW and CH, we studied the contents of various compounds in Caowu processed by two methods by UPLC-Orbitrap-MS. The results indicated that CW had 14 new ingredients, such as 14-O-anisoylneoline and dehydro-mesaconitine, while N-demethyl-mesaconitine and aconitine disappeared. At the same time, it could significantly decrease the content of diester diterpenoid alkaloids and increase the contents of monoester diterpenoid alkaloids and amine-diterpenoid alkaloids. CH had 9 new ingredients from Hezi, like gallic acid, chebulic acid and shikimic acid. Neither the kinds nor the contents of compositions from Caowu in CH changed little. This suggested that the processing mechanism of CW reduced highly toxic components(diester diterpenoid alkaloids) and increased the content of lowly toxic components(monoester diterpenoid alkaloids and amine-diterpenoid alkaloids). Attenuated principle of CH may be related to the components of Hezi. In this experiment, the conclusion shows that the chemical constituents of CW and CH are essentially different, and the two methods have different toxicity reduction principles.
Aconitine ; Aconitum/chemistry* ; Alkaloids/analysis* ; Chemistry, Pharmaceutical/methods* ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/analysis* ; Mass Spectrometry ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

This study compared the changes in chemical components during the processing of different types of Aconiti Lateralis Radix Praeparata(ALRP) in "Jianchang" faction, i.e., dried ginger-steamed ALRP pieces(Yin-FP), sand-fried ALRP pieces(Yang-FP), and rice swill water-bleached ALRP pieces(DFP), and provided a scientific basis for the mechanism in toxicity reduction and efficacy enhancement from a compositional perspective. Samples were collected during the processing of the three types of ALRP pieces, yielding raw ALRP pieces, water-bleached Yin-FP, ginger juice-moistened Yin-FP, steamed Yin-FP, water-bleached Yang-FP, sand-fried Yang-FP, water-bleached DFP, rice swill water-bleached DFP, and roasted DFP. Aconitine, mesaconitine, hypaconitine, benzoylaconine, benzoylmesaconine, benzoylhypaconine, aconine, mesaconine, hypaconine, salsolinol, fuziline, and higenamine in the extracts were determined by UPLC-MS/MS, and then content analysis and cluster heatmap analysis were performed on 11 sets of samples. During the processing of the three types of ALRP pieces, bleaching significantly reduced the content of 12 alkaloids; steaming, stir-frying, and roasting significantly reduced the content of diester-type alkaloids(aconitine, mesaconitine, and hypaconitine) and significantly increased the content of monoester-type alkaloids(benzoylaconine, benzoylmesaconine, and benzoylhypaconine) and aminoalcohol-type alkaloids(aconine, mesaconine, and hypaconine). During the processing of Yin-FP, the diester-type alkaloids continuously decreased, while the monoester-type and aminoalcohol-type alkaloids showed an initial decrease followed by an increase. During the processing of Yin-FP, Yang-FP, and DFP, the diester-type alkaloids continuously decreased, while the monoester-type and aminoalcohol-type alkaloids showed an initial decrease followed by an increase. Steamed Yin-FP showed a higher increase in content than fried Yang-FP and roasted DFP. Comprehensive analysis of content differences in toxic and therapeutic components in three ALRP pieces suggests that the distinctive processing methods in "Jianchang" faction can indeed achieve detoxification and efficacy enhancement on ALRP. This study provides references for understanding the mechanisms of action of the three processing methods.
Aconitine/analysis* ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry ; Zingiber officinale ; Oryza ; Sand ; Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry* ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods* ; Alkaloids/analysis* ; Steam

Aconiti Lateralis Radix Praeparata (Fuzi) is a commonly used traditional Chinese medicine in clinic for its potency in restoring yang and rescuing from collapse. Aconiti alkaloids, mainly including monoester-diterpenoidaconitines (MDAs) and diester-diterpenoidaconitines (DDAs), are considered to act as both bioactive and toxic constituents. In the present study, a feasible, economical, and accurate HPLC method for simultaneous determination of six alkaloid markers using the Single Standard for Determination of Multi-Components (SSDMC) method was developed and fully validated. Benzoylmesaconine was used as the unique reference standard. This method was proven as accurate (recovery varying between 97.5%-101.8%, RSD < 3%), precise (RSD 0.63%-2.05%), and linear (R > 0.999 9) over the concentration ranges, and subsequently applied to quantitative evaluation of 62 batches of samples, among which 45 batches were from good manufacturing practice (GMP) facilities and 17 batches from the drug market. The contents were then analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA) and homogeneity test. The present study provided valuable information for improving the quality standard of Aconiti Lateralis Radix Praeparata. The developed method also has the potential in analysis of other Aconitum species, such as Aconitum carmichaelii (prepared parent root) and Aconitum kusnezoffii (prepared root).
Aconitine ; analogs & derivatives ; chemistry ; Aconitum ; chemistry ; Alkaloids ; analysis ; Biomarkers ; analysis ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; economics ; methods ; Diterpenes ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Feasibility Studies ; Molecular Structure