title: An improved ultra-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization/quadrupole-time-of-flight high-definition mass spectrometry method for determining ingredients of herbal Fructus corni in blood samples.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Fructus Corni (FC), a well-known traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), derived from the dry ripe sarcocarp of Cornus officinalis Sieb. et Zucc (Cornaceae), has been widely prescribed to treat disease in China for centuries. It has attracted increasingly much attention as one of the most popular and valuable herbal medicine in clinic. However, the systematic analysis of the chemical constituents of FC is difficult to determine and remain unclear.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this work, a rapid, sensitive, and reliable ultra-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization/quadrupole-time-of-flight high-definition mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI/QTOF/MS) with automated data analysis (MetaboLynx™) in negative ion mode were established to characterize the chemical constituents of FC and simultaneously identify components in blood after oral administration of FC, respectively. The analysis was performed on a Waters UPLC™ HSS T3 (2.1 × 100 mm, 1.8 μm) using gradient elution system. MS/MS fragmentation behaviors were proposed for aiding the structural identification of the components.
  
  
  RESULTS
  With optimized conditions, a total of 34 peaks were obtained from FC, 23 of which were tentatively characterized by comparing the retention time and mass spectrometry data and retrieving the reference literatures. Of note, the 25 compounds were identified after oral administration of FC, which might be the potential active components in vivo.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study demonstrates the potential of UPLC-ESI/QTOF/MS approach for the rapid and reliable characterization of the metabolites of natural products.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, National TCM Key Laboratory of Serum Pharmacochemistry, Key Laboratory of Metabolomics and Chinmedomics, and Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China.
authors.forename: Changsong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, National TCM Key Laboratory of Serum Pharmacochemistry, Key Laboratory of Metabolomics and Chinmedomics, and Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China.
authors.forename: Aihua
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, National TCM Key Laboratory of Serum Pharmacochemistry, Key Laboratory of Metabolomics and Chinmedomics, and Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, National TCM Key Laboratory of Serum Pharmacochemistry, Key Laboratory of Metabolomics and Chinmedomics, and Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, National TCM Key Laboratory of Serum Pharmacochemistry, Key Laboratory of Metabolomics and Chinmedomics, and Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China.
authors.forename: Di
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, National TCM Key Laboratory of Serum Pharmacochemistry, Key Laboratory of Metabolomics and Chinmedomics, and Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China.
authors.forename: Yuying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, National TCM Key Laboratory of Serum Pharmacochemistry, Key Laboratory of Metabolomics and Chinmedomics, and Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China.
authors.forename: Xiuhong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, National TCM Key Laboratory of Serum Pharmacochemistry, Key Laboratory of Metabolomics and Chinmedomics, and Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China.
authors.forename: Xijun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: Bioactive components; UPLC–ESI/QTOF/MS; fructus corni; herbal medicine; identification