title: Metabolomics based on liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry reveals the chemical difference in the stems and roots derived from Ephedra sinica.
abstract: To better understand different traditional uses of the stems (known as Mahuang) and roots (known as Mahuanggen) of Ephedra sinica, their chemical difference should be investigated. In this study, an ultra-fast liquid chromatography coupled with ion trap time-of-flight mass spectrometry untargeted metabolomics approach was established to reveal global chemical difference between Mahuang and Mahuanggen. Clear separation was observed in scores plots of principal component analysis and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis. Twenty two chemical markers responsible for such separation were screened out and unambiguously/tentatively characterized. Then chemical markers of pharmacologically important ephedrine and pseudoephedrine were absolutely quantified using liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry under multiple reaction monitoring mode. The results showed that Mahuang was rich in ephedrine-type alkaloids, while Mahuanggen was rich in macrocyclic spermine alkaloids. Additionally, different types of flavan-3-ols and flavones exist in Mahuang and Mahuanggen extracts. This research facilitates a better understanding of different traditional uses of Mahuang and Mahuanggen and provides references for chemical analysis of other medicinal plants.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Drug Quality Control and Pharmacovigilance (Ministry of Education), China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China.|State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicine, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Mengying
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Drug Quality Control and Pharmacovigilance (Ministry of Education), China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China.|State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicine, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Jiaqing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Drug Quality Control and Pharmacovigilance (Ministry of Education), China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China.|State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicine, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Yiqiao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Medicinal Chemistry, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Jianbo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Drug Quality Control and Pharmacovigilance (Ministry of Education), China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China.|State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicine, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Qianqian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Drug Quality Control and Pharmacovigilance (Ministry of Education), China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China.|State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicine, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Mohan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Drug Quality Control and Pharmacovigilance (Ministry of Education), China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China.|State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicine, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Fengguo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Drug Quality Control and Pharmacovigilance (Ministry of Education), China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China.|State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicine, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Zunjian
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000737:chemistry*; D029790:Ephedra sinica / Q000737:chemistry*; D004809:Ephedrine / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D055432:Metabolomics / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000737:chemistry; D018547:Plant Stems / Q000737:chemistry; D054199:Pseudoephedrine / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D054199:Pseudoephedrine; D004809:Ephedrine
keywords: Chemical differences; Ephedra sinica; Liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry; Plant metabolomics