title: Metabolites identification of bioactive licorice compounds in rats.
abstract: Licorice (Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.) is one of the most popular herbal medicines worldwide. This study aims to identify the metabolites of seven representative bioactive licorice compounds in rats. These compounds include 22β-acetoxyl glycyrrhizin (1), licoflavonol (2), licoricidin (3), licoisoflavanone (4), isoglycycoumarin (5), semilicoisoflavone B (6), and 3-methoxy-9-hydroxy-pterocarpan (7). After oral administration of 250mg/kg of 1 or 40mg/kg of 2-7 to rats, a total of 16, 43 and 31 metabolites were detected in the plasma, urine and fecal samples, respectively. The metabolites were characterized by HPLC/DAD/ESI-MS(n) and LC/IT-TOF-MS analyses. Particularly, two metabolites of 1 were unambiguously identified by comparing with reference standards, and 22β-acetoxyl glycyrrhizin-6″-methyl ester (1-M2) is a new compound. Compound 1 could be readily hydrolyzed to eliminate the glucuronic acid residue. The phenolic compounds (4-7) mainly undertook phase II metabolism (glucuronidation or sulfation). Most phenolic compounds with an isoprenyl group (chain or cyclized, 2-5) could also undertake hydroxylation reaction. This is the first study on in vivo metabolism of these licorice compounds.
authors: State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China.
authors: Qi
authors: Q
authors: Wang
authors: State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China.
authors: Yi
authors: Y
authors: Qian
authors: State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China.
authors: Qing
authors: Q
authors: Wang
authors: State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China.
authors: Yan-Fang
authors: YF
authors: Yang
authors: State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China.
authors: Shuai
authors: S
authors: Ji
authors: State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China.
authors: Wei
authors: W
authors: Song
authors: State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China.
authors: Xue
authors: X
authors: Qiao
authors: State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China.
authors: De-An
authors: DA
authors: Guo
authors: State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China. Electronic address: lianghong@bjmu.edu.cn.
authors: Hong
authors: H
authors: Liang
authors: State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China. Electronic address: yemin@bjmu.edu.cn.
authors: Min
authors: M
authors: Ye
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000818:Animals; D001711:Biotransformation; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry; D020719:Glucuronides / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D006035:Glycyrrhiza; D006868:Hydrolysis; D006900:Hydroxylation; D008297:Male; D015394:Molecular Structure; D008517:Phytotherapy; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000652:urine; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization; D013431:Sulfates / Q000493:pharmacokinetics
chemical_list: D020719:Glucuronides; D010936:Plant Extracts; D013431:Sulfates
keywords: Flavonoid; Glycyrrhiza uralensis; Liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry; Metabolites identification; Saponin