A comprehensive strategy of lipidomics and pharmacokinetics based on ultra‐high‐performance liquid chromatography‐mass spectrometry of Shaoyao Gancao Decoction

Abstract

Shaoyao Gancao Decoction (SGD), a traditional Chinese medicine, has been proven to have a good liver protection effect, but the mechanism and pharmacodynamic substances of SGD in the treatment of acute liver injury are still unclear. In this study, an ultra‐high‐performance liquid chromatography‐quadrupole‐time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC‐Q‐TOF‐MS) method was established to characterize 107 chemical components of SGD and 12 compounds absorbed in rat plasma samples after oral administration of SGD. Network pharmacology was applied to construct a component‐target‐pathway network to screen the possible effective components of SGD in acute liver injury. Using lipidomics based on UHPLC‐Q‐TOF‐MS coupled with a variety of statistical analyses, 20 lipid biomarkers were screened and identified, suggesting that the improvement of acute liver injury by SGD was involved in cholesterol metabolism, glycerol‐phospholipid metabolism, sphingolipid signaling pathways and fatty acid biosynthesis. In addition, the UHPLC‐tandem MS method was established for pharmacokinetics analysis, and 10 potential active components were determined simultaneously within 12 min through the optimization of 0.1% formic acid water and acetonitrile as a mobile phase system. A Pharmacokinetics study showed that paeoniflorin, albiflorin, oxypaeoniflorin, liquiritigenin, isoliquiritigenin, liquiritin, ononin, formononetin, glycyrrhizic acid, and glycyrrhetinic acid as the potential active compounds of SGD curing acute liver injury.