Characterization of the metabolism of aloin A/B and aloesin in rats using ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry

Abstract

Aloin A/B and aloesin are the major bioactive constituents in Aloe vera, with diverse pharmacological activities, including anti-bacterial, anti-tumour, anti-inflammatory and intestinal regulation. However, the in vivo metabolism of aloin A/B and aloesin is still unclear. In this study, the metabolic processes of aloin A/B and aloesin in rats were investigated using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS) and MetaboLynx™ software with the mass defect filter technique. Based on the proposed method, the prototype components of three compounds were all detected in rat plasma, urine and feces. Meanwhile, 25 aloin A/B metabolites (six phase I, three phase II, 16 phase I combined with phase II) and three aloesin metabolites (two phase I and one phase II) were detected in rats after oral administration of aloin A, aloin B and aloesin, and the main biotransformation reactions were hydroxylation, oxidation, methylation, acetylation and glucuronidation. In addition, aloin A and aloin B can be transformed into each other in vivo and the metabolic profiles of aloin A and aloin B are identical.These results provide essential data for further pharmaceutical research and clinical application of aloin A/B and aloesin.

Determination of compounds with laxative action in aloe latex and aloe vera‐based products—Chemometric classification of aloe vera plants (Aloe barbadensis Miller) under different conditions

“…[15][16][17] The most widely used technique though is high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and ultraperformance liquid chromatography (UPLC). 7,12,[18][19][20][21] In comparison with other analytical methods, HPLC is easy to handle and costeffective. Therefore, in this study, a simple HPLC method with a diode array detector (DAD) has been developed and validated for the determination of aloin A, aloin B, and aloe emodin in aloe vera plants, under different seasonal variation and cultivation conditions, as well as in aloe products obtained from the Cyprus market.…”

“…Gas chromatography (GC), thin layer chromatography (TLC), and capillary electrophoresis (CE) are some of the most common reported techniques 15–17 . The most widely used technique though is high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and ultra‐performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) 7,12,18–21 . In comparison with other analytical methods, HPLC is easy to handle and cost‐effective.…”