Comparison of Ophiopogon japonicus and Liriope spicata var. prolifera from Different Origins Based on Multi-Component Quantification and Anticancer Activity

Abstract

The tuberous root of Ophiopogon japonicus (Thunb.) Ker-Gawl. is a well-known Chinese medicine also called Maidong (MD) in Chinese. It could be divided into “Chuanmaidong” (CMD) and “Zhemaidong” (ZMD), according to the geographic origins. Meanwhile, the root of Liriope spicata (Thunb.) Lour. var. prolifera Y. T. Ma (SMD) is occasionally used as a substitute for MD in the market. In this study, a reliable pressurized liquid extraction and HPLC-DAD-ELSD method was developed for the simultaneous determination of nine chemical components, including four steroidal saponins (ophiopojaponin C, ophiopogonin D, liriopesides B and ophiopogonin D’), four homoisoflavonoids (methylophiopogonone A, methylophiopogonone B, methylophiopogonanone A and methylophiopogonanone B) and one sapogenin (ruscogenin) in CMD, ZMD and SMD. The method was validated in terms of linearity, sensitivity, precision, repeatability and accuracy, and then applied to the real samples from different origins. The results indicated that there were significant differences in the contents of the investigated compounds in CMD, ZMD and SMD. Ruscogenin was not detected in all the samples, and liriopesides B was only found in SMD samples. CMD contained higher ophiopogonin D and ophiopogonin D’, while the other compounds were more abundant in ZMD. Moreover, the anticancer effects of the herbal extracts and selected components against A2780 human ovarian cancer cells were also compared. CMD and ZMD showed similar cytotoxic effects, which were stronger than those of SMD. The effects of MD may be due to the significant anticancer potential of ophiopognin D’ and homoisoflavonoids. These results suggested that there were great differences in the chemical composition and pharmacological activity among CMD, ZMD and SMD; thus, their origins should be carefully considered in clinical application.

Discovery of chemical marker formaidong(roots ofOphiopogon japonicusandLiriope spicata): a feature-based molecular networking approach

“…The levels of ophiopogonin B were observed to be significantly (p-value <0.01) lower in O. japonicus compared to L. spicata, whereas ophiopogonin D was detected with significantly (p-value < 0.05) higher amounts in O. japonicus. Similar results were also found by Chen et al (2023) in a targeted analysis of maidong samples collected in three distinct regions. Different amounts of these two compounds, at intra-species level, were observed in O. japonicus and L. spicata respectively.…”

Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Analyses Reveal the Response Mechanism of Ophiopogon japonicus to Waterlogging Stress

“…MD primarily originates from regions in Sichuan and Zhejiang [ 15 ]. Sichuan MD (abbreviated as CMD) represents a cultivated variety derived from the wild MD population in the Sichuan area [ 16 ].…”