title: Ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry for rapid analysis of the metabolites of morroniside produced by human intestinal bacteria.
abstract: Morroniside, the most abundant iridoid glycoside in the valuable traditional Chinese medicine Fructus Corni, exhibits various pharmacological activities and biological effects. Intestinal flora plays an important role in the metabolism of drug compounds, which might lead to the variation of ethnopharmacological profile of the medicine. However, little is known of the interactions of the morroniside with human intestinal bacteria. In this study, different pure bacteria were isolated from human feces and their capability to convert morroniside were investigated. The metabolites of morroniside were analyzed by ultra high performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS) technique using Metabolynx™ software. Parent compound and three metabolites were detected and tentatively identified based on the characteristics of their protonated ions. The parent is proposed to be metabolized by three main metabolic pathways including deglycosylation, dehydroxylation and methylation. Morroniside was firstly metabolized to its aglycone (M1), and then was further converted to dehydroxylated aglycone (M2) and methylated aglycone (M3). This is the first report of the metabolism of morroniside by human intestinal bacteria. These metabolites might influence the biological activities of morroniside in vivo, which could affect the clinical effects of medicines. Thus, the study on the metabolism of morroniside by human intestinal bacteria is very helpful to unravel how traditional medicines work.
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, PR China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, PR China.
authors.forename: Leyue
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, PR China.
authors.forename: Jinhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, PR China.
authors.forename: Dawei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, PR China.
authors.forename: Jianming
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, PR China. Electronic address: jiangshu2000@163.com.
authors.forename: Shu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, PR China.
authors.forename: Er-xin
authors.initials: EX
authors.lastname: Shang
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, PR China. Electronic address: dja@njutcm.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jin-ao
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, PR China.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D006027:Glycosides / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D007422:Intestines / Q000382:microbiology*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D006027:Glycosides; C488401:morroniside
keywords: Human intestinal bacteria; Metabolites; Morroniside; UHPLC–Q-TOF-MS