Material basis studies of anti‐Influenza A active ingredients in Tanreqing Injection

Abstract

Tanreqing Injection (TRQ) has been used primarily in treating infections of the upper respiratory tract and serious influenza in China, as a classical compound herbal recipe. TRQ had been demonstrated to have effects of clearing heat, eliminating phlegm, detoxification, reducing inflammation and alleviating cough. The survival rate, histopathology of lungs and viral titers in mice were evaluated in this study to verify the curative effect of TRQ. However, there is not enough information about the components. In the present study, a high-performance and practical LC/QTOF/MS method was developed for characterization and identification of the natural ingredients in TRQ. A total of 60 compounds, including 10 amino acids, 10 iridoid glucosides, 14 flavonoids, 13 other phenolic compounds, 10 steroid acids and three other compounds, were characterized and identified. We also confirmed the material basis of anti-Influenza A active ingredients in TRQ. Therefore, we have developed an accurate analytical method. LC/QTOF/MS could be applied for identification the complex components in traditional Chinese medicine.

Identification of the absorbed ingredients and metabolites in rats after an intravenous administration of Tanreqing injection using high‐performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry

“…According to the references, the chemical constituents in TRQI are complex and include phenolic compounds, flavonoids, iridoid glucosides, amino acids, and steroid acids [6,7]. This result is consistent with most reported chemical compositions of TRQI found by our method.…”

“…For example, M38 (t R = 11.962 min) detected in rat biological matrices, including plasma, bile, and lung tissue, was assigned as glucuronidation because fragment ions were generated through a neutral loss of 176 Da. [6]; therefore, M55 is the metabolite of baicalin after deglucuronidation, which is also consistent with previous studies [22]. Similarly, the metabolites of the other flavonoids in TRQI were preliminarily identified.…”

“…A recent study considers that TRQI has a potential inhibitory effect on the arachidonic acid metabolic pathway and may suppress the pneumonia caused by COVID-19 by relieving cytokine storms [5]. Previously, our team clarified that there were 60 compounds in TRQI including flavonoids, iridoid glycosides, phenolic acids, steroid acids, and amino acids [6]. In addition, some scholars have studied the contents of the main components in the injection and their pharmacokinetic characteristics in rat plasma [7][8][9].…”

A Network Pharmacology-based Analysis of the Molecular Mechanism of Tanreqing in the Treatment of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

“…Through literature research [11,[20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]and using the list of chemical components supplied by the manufacturer (Shanghai Kaibao Pharmaceutical Co,Ltd,Shanghai,China),29 compounds in TRQ were chosen for further study. All compounds were fed into PubChem [28,29] (https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov).…”

“…TRQ, as a fast-acting and effective modern medication that comes in ready-to-use formulation, has been used increasingly in clinical situations. Though clinical studies and experiments in the past have con rmed TRQ as a natural broad-spectrum antiviral drug [5,6,11] the molecular mechanism behind its antiviral function has not yet been fully understood.…”