Objective To develop a simple, rapid and sensitive method for the determination of major compounds from Gardenia jasminoides Ellis using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).Methods The analysis was performed on Dikma Diamonsil?C18 (100mm×4.6mm, 5μm) column with acetonitrile-0.1％acetic acid and 0.1％acetic acidwater as mobile phase at a rate of 0.4ml/min.The column temperature was set at 40℃and the injection volume was 2μl.Quantification of these compounds was performed by LC-MS/MS with positive or negative ion mode electrospray ionization (ESI) in the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode.Nebulizer gas, 3L/h;drying gas, 15L/h;desolvation line (DL) temperature, 240℃;heat block temperature, 300℃;CID, 230kPa.The mass transition of the precursor/product ions was monitored at m/z 391.10→149.30for shanzhiside, 573.40→365.05for genipin-1-gentiobioside, 447.30→225.15for geniposide.Results The regress equation of shanzhiside, genipin-1-gentiobioside and geniposide were Y=243.810 X-289.957, r=0.999 9;Y=137.125 X+2 092.76, r=0.999 6;Y=2 030.32 X+823 213, r=0.999 8in the range of 10.76-215.2ng/ml;516-4 128ng/ml;2 000-20 000ng/ml respectively.This validated method has good repeatability, precision, recovery and stability.The results meet the requirements by regulation.Conclusion This method shortened the analysis time and improved efficiency.It assayed the three iridoid glycosides in Gardenia jasminoides Ellis sensitively and precisely.This method can be used for the quality control of Gardenia jasminoides Ellis.

Objective To explore the utility of cone-beam CT in the evaluation of prostatic arterial embolization (PAE). Methods In a retrospective study, images of DSA and cone-beam CT for PAE in 81 patients with moderate to severe grade benign prostatic hyperplasia were evaluated. In 162 cases of internal iliac arteries (ⅡAs) in 81 patients, images of 6 ⅡAs were excluded due to the technical problems. Therefore, images of 156ⅡAs were included for evaluation. We aim to evaluate the utility of cone-beam CT versus DSA in differentiating PAs and their origins, and demonstrating anastomoses with adjacent arteries. Statistical analyses were performed with Chi-square test to compare the rate of demonstrating vessels between cone-beam CT and DSA. Results One hundred and sixty-one PAs were demonstrated in 156ⅡAs by selective DSA and Cone-beam CT. Cone-beam CT and DSA images demonstrated 158 (98.1%, 158/161) and 130 (80.8%, 130/161) PAs, respectively. The statistical difference was significant (χ2=25.78, P<0.05). PAs were demonstrated by cone-beam CT images alone in 27ⅡAs (17.3%, 27/156) and were demonstrated by DSA images alone in 3ⅡAs (1.9%, 3/161).The statistical difference was significant (χ2=22.31, P<0.05). In 137 PAs that were initially defined by DSA alone, 7 of those (5.1%, 7/137) were eventually proven not to be PAs by further selective cone-beam CT acquisitions. Origins of PAs were shown by Cone-beam CT images alone in 11 ⅡAs. In the remaining 145 ⅡAs (92.9%, 145/156), origins of PAs were shown by both
cone-beam CT and DSA images. The percentage of PA anastomoses demonstrated by cone-beam CT was 42.3%(66/156), which was higher than DSA (31.4%, 49/156). The statistical difference was significant (χ2=3.98, P<0.05). Conclusions Cone-beam CT is useful in demonstrating PAs and their origins fromⅡAs, as well as anastomoses with adjacent arteries.

Parkinson′s disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disease. Its main pathological feature is the progressive loss of substantia nigra and other catecholaminergic neurons containing neuromelanin (NM). Therefore, NM may be closely related to the pathogenesis of PD. The content of NM can be detected by NM magnetic sensitive sequence imaging, and then it can be applied to the study of the neuropathological mechanism of NM and PD. This paper focuses on the physiological significance of NM, its role in the pathogenesis of PD and the prospect of NM as a biomarker to assist diagnosis and disease monitoring of PD.

Gardeniae Fructus (GF) and Semen Sojae Praeparatum (SSP) are both medicine food homologies and widely used in Chinese clinical prescriptions together. The research investigated the pharmacokinetics of four iridoids in normal rats and isolfavones-fed rats, which were administered with isolfavones from SSP for 7, 14, 21 and 28 consecutive days. A validated LC-MS/MS method was developed for determining shanzhiside, genipin-1-gentiobioside, geniposide and their metabolite genipin in rat plasma. Plasma samples were pretreated by solid-phase extraction using paeoniflorin as the internal standard. The chromatographic separation was performed on a Waters Atlantis T3 (4.6 mm × 150 mm, 3μm) column using a gradient mobile phase consisting of acetonitril and water (containing 0.06％acetic acid). The mass detection was under the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode via polarity switching between negative and positive ionization modes. The calibration curves exhibited good linearity (r>0.997) for all components. The lower limit of quantitation was in the range of 1-10 ng/mL. The intra-day and inter-day precisions (RSD) at three different levels were both less than 12.2％ and the accuracies (RE) ranged from -10.1％ to 16.4％. The extraction recovery of them ranged from 53.8％ to 99.7％. Pharmacokinetic results indicated the bioavailability of three iridoid glycosides and the metabolite, genipin in normal rats was higher than that in rats exposed to isoflavones. With the longer time of administration of iso-flavones, plasma concentrations of iridoids decreased, while genipin sulfate, the phase II metabolite of genposide and genipin-1-gentiobioside, appeared the rising exposure. The pharmacokinetic profiles of main iridoids from GF were altered by isoflavones.

Image 1.