title: Metabolism of ginsenosides Rk₃ and Rh₄ from steamed notoginseng in zebrafish by ultraperformance liquid chromatography/quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry.
abstract: In this work, the metabolite profiles of ginsenosides Rk3 and Rh4 from steamed notoginseng in zebrafish were qualitatively investigated, and their possible metabolic pathways were subsequently proposed. Metabolites of ginsenosides Rk3 and Rh4 after exposing to zebrafish for 24 h were identified by Ultraperformance Liquid Chromatography/Quadrupole -Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-TOF/MS). The separation was performed with a UPLC BEH C18 column using a binary gradient elution of 0.1 % formic acetonitrile -0.1 % formic acid water. The quasi-molecular ions of compounds were detected in negative mode. According to the quasi-molecular ions and MS2 spectra, after comparison with reference standards, molecular mass information and the potential structures about metabolites of ginsenosides Rk3 and Rh4 were obtained. In all, 5 and 6 metabolites of ginsenoside Rk3 and Rh4 including M1(M6), M2(M7), M3-M5 and N1, N2(N7), N3-N6 were identified in zebrafish respectively, which were to our knowledge reported for the first time. The results indicated that ginsenosides Rk3 and Rh4 were metabolized via desugarization, glucuronidation, sulfation, dehydroxylation, and loss of C-17 and C-23 residue pathways in zebrafish. Loss of glucose at position C-6 and glucuronidation at position C-3 or C-6 in zebrafish were considered as the main physiologic processes of ginsenosides Rk3 and Rh4.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Chinese Medicine Delivery System of State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jiangsu Provincial Academy of Chinese Medicine, 100 Shizi Road, Hongshan Street, Nanjing, 210028, People's Republic of China, jeromechen@126.com.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yingjie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Dandan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xiaobin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jia
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D036145:Ginsenosides / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D053723:Panax notoginseng; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013227:Steam; D015027:Zebrafish
chemical_list: D036145:Ginsenosides; D010936:Plant Extracts; D013227:Steam; C472075:ginsenoside Rk3