Development of an Oriental Medicine Discrimination Method through Analysis of Steroidal Saponins in Dioscorea nipponica Makino and Their Anti-Osteosarcoma Effects

Abstract

To prevent confusing Dioscorea nipponica (DN), an Oriental medicine, with Dioscorea quinquelobata (DQ) and Dioscorea septemloba (DS), a simple and accurate quantitative analysis method using HPLC combined with ultraviolet (UV) detection was developed and verified with UPLC-QTOF/MS through identification of five saponin glycosides: protodioscin (1), protogracillin (2), pseudoprotodioscin (3), dioscin (4), and gracillin (5). The newly developed analysis method showed sufficient reproducibility (<1.91%) and accuracy (92.1%–102.6%) and was able to identify DN based on the presence of compound 3 (13.821 ± 0.037 mg/mL) and the absence of 5. Compound 1, which is present in DN at a relatively high level (159.983 ± 0.064 mg/mL), was also an important marker for identification. Among the three species, DN showed the strongest activation of apoptotic signaling in osteosarcoma cells, while the four compounds detected in DN showed IC50 values of 6.43 (1), 10.61 (2), 10.48 (3), and 6.90 (4). In conclusion, the strong inhibitory effect of DN against osteosarcoma was confirmed to be associated with 1 and 4, which is also related to the quantitative results. Therefore, the results of this study might provide important information for quality control related to Oriental medicine.

Natural Deep Eutectic Solvents for the Extraction of Bioactive Steroidal Saponins from Dioscoreae Nipponicae Rhizoma

“…Dioscoreae Nipponicae Rhizoma (DNR), the dried rhizome of Dioscorea nipponica Makino, is widely distributed in China, South Korea, and Russia, and has been used as a traditional herbal medicine for relieving cough and asthma, eliminating rheumatic aches, alleviating pain, and improving blood circulation [1]. Modern pharmacological studies have discovered that DNR possesses anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, anti-diuretic, analgesic, anti-tussive, immunoregulatory, and cardiovascular properties [2][3][4][5][6]. Phytochemical studies disclosed that steroidal saponins, such as protodioscin, protogracillin, pseudoprotodioscin, and pseudoprotogracillin are the major bioactive constituents in DNR, which are mainly responsible for most of the pharmacological effects of this herbal medicine [7,8].…”

A Simple and Economic Limewater-based Conversion of Spirostanol Saponins: Using Paridis Rhizoma as a case study

“…Steroidal saponins are classi ed into two subfamilies, spirostanol type saponins and furostanol type saponins [35], there are furostanol and corresponding spirostanol type compounds simultaneously in plants [36], and furostanol saponins can be converted into spirostanol form when catalyzing by furostanol glycoside 26-O-β-glucosidase [37,38].…”

Discrimination and quality evaluation of fifteen components in Stauntonia hexaphylla leaves from different harvest time by HPLC–PDA–ESI–MS/MS and ELSD coupled with multivariate statistical analysis and anti-inflammatory activity evaluation

“…4b), peaks 9 and 10 demonstrated better discrimination ability on SHL than other components. At the same time, many in vivo and in vitro studies have proved that these two compounds have anti-osteosarcoma, memory enhancement, antiplatelet aggregation, anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive activities [14,[36][37][38][39]. Therefore, these two bioactive components can be selected as marker compounds to effectively control the quality of SHL with different ages and seasons.…”