Simultaneous quantification of five steroid saponins from Dioscorea zingiberensis C.H. Wright in rat plasma by HPLC–MS/MS and its application to the pharmacokinetic studies

Abstract

A simple, reliable and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method (HPLC-MS/MS) was established for simultaneous analyses of the following 5 steroid saponins in rat plasma after the single dose administration of total steroid saponins extracted from the rhizome of Dioscorea zingiberensis C.H.Wright for the first time. Protodioscin, huangjiangsu A, zingiberensis new saponin, dioscin, and gracillin were quantified using ginsenoside Rb1 as the internal standard (IS). The plasma samples were pretreated by a single step acetonitrile-mediated protein precipitation. The chromatographic separation was performed on an Inersil ODS-3 C18 column (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) with the mobile phase composed of acetonitrile and water containing 0.1% formic acid under a gradient elution mode at 0.2 mL min−1 using a microsplit after the eluent from the HPLC apparatus. The quantification was accomplished on a triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer using the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) in the positive ionization mode. The above five analytes were stable under sample storage and preparation conditions applied in the present study. The linearity, precision, accuracy, and recoveries of the analysis confirmed the requirements for quality-control purposes. After validation, this proposed method was successfully adopted to investigate the pharmacokinetic parameters of these five analytes.

A new quantitation method of protodioscin by HPLC–ESI-MS/MS in rat plasma and its application to the pharmacokinetic study

“…Considering C max , AUC 0 −t and AUC 0−∞ , they increased and showed a perfect proportion within the dose range, demonstrating that these parameters of PG displayed a dose-dependent relationship and might exhibit linear pharmacokinetics. The concentration–time curve was indeed irregular in agreement with the previous report [17], i.e. the second peak was higher than the first peak, whose proper reason has also been discussed [17].…”

“…The concentration–time curve was indeed irregular in agreement with the previous report [17], i.e. the second peak was higher than the first peak, whose proper reason has also been discussed [17]. These pharmacokinetic parameters of pure PG exhibited a slight discrepancy as compared with its complex form extracted from the rhizome of Dioscorea zingiberensis C.H.…”

Safety investigation on total steroid saponins extracts from Dioscorea zingiberensis C.H. Wright: Sub-acute and chronic toxicity studies on dogs

“…Steroid saponins were a type of intensively polar compounds led by the constituent sugar groups and they except for their metabolites could pass through the membrane. However, this ability was weak and trace of them was determined in blood, therefore, our previous reports have demonstrated that they displayed a low bioavailability after oral administration of TSSN from D. zingiberensis [13, 31, 32]. We hypothesized another possibility that the concentration of steroid saponins in blood, tissue and organs couldn’t reach threshold values to cause the claimed toxic responses due to their low bioavailability pharmacokinetic features indicating the lack of toxicity of TSSN.…”

“…Particularly, Dun-Ye-Guan-Xin-Ning Capsule, a famous Chinese patent medicine extracted from the rhizome of D. zingiberensis , is reputed for its promising efficacy against cardiovascular diseases probably through the underlying mechanisms of increasing coronary blood flow, improving peripheral circulation as well as depressing platelet aggregation [13]. The acidic hydrolyzates of TSSN from D. zingiberensis are broadly utilized as raw materials to extract diosgenin after recrystallization by petroleum ether [14].…”

Dioscorea Zingiberensis New Saponin Inhibits the Growth of Hepatocellular Carcinoma by Suppressing the Expression of Long Non-coding RNA TCONS-00026762

“…It has been reported that saponins extracted from plants belongs to the family Dioscoreaceae, including Dioscorea zingiberensis C. H. Wright, exhibit antitumor activity against HCC ( Zhou et al, 2009 ; Zhao et al, 2018 ). D. zingiberensis C. H. Wright is rich in saponins, including protodioscin, dioscin, scutellaria, trifoliate, glucose triglucoside, glucose diglucoside and trillium glucoside ( Zhu et al, 2010 ; Lei et al, 2011 ; Zhang et al, 2015 ). Saponins induce apoptosis and cell cycle arrest via the extracellular regulated protein kinase (ERK)/nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) signaling pathway in human HCC HepG2 cells ( Auyeung et al, 2009 ; Long et al, 2015 ).…”