Determination of American ginseng saponins and their metabolites in human plasma, urine and feces samples by liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Abstract

American ginseng is a commonly consumed herbal medicine in the United States and other countries. Ginseng saponins are considered to be its active constituents. We have previously demonstrated in an in vitro experiment that human enteric microbiota metabolize ginseng parent compounds into their metabolites. In this study, we analyzed American ginseng saponins and their metabolites in human plasma, urine and feces samples by liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-Q-TOF-MS). Six healthy male volunteers ingested 1 g of American ginseng twice a day for 7 days. On day 7, biological samples were obtained and pretreated with solid phase extraction. The ginseng constituents and their metabolites were characterized, including 5 ginseng metabolites in plasma, 10 in urine, and 16 in feces. For the plasma, urine and feces samples, the levels of ginsenoside Rb1 (a major parent compound) were 8.6, 56.8 and 57.7 ng/mL, respectively, and the levels of compound K (a major metabolite) were 58.4 ng/mL, 109.8 ng/mL and 10.06 μg/mL, respectively. It suggested that compound K had a remarkably high level in all three samples. Moreover, in human feces, ginsenoside Rk1 and Rg5, Rk3 and Rh4, Rg6 and F4 were detected as the products of dehydration. Further studies are needed to evaluate the pharmacological activities of the identified ginseng metabolites.

Changes in intestinal microbiota affect metabolism of ginsenoside Re

“…Therefore, M8 and M9 could only contain one glucose at the C6 or C20 position. Although the mass spectra of M8 or M9 did not provide the exact information on glucose binding sites, in comparison with the standard, M8 and M9 were identified as Rh1 and F1, respectively (Wan et al, ).…”

Identification and characterization of forced degradation products and stability‐indicating assay for notoginsenosidefc by using UHPLC‐Q‐TOF‐MS and UHPLC‐MS/MS: Insights into stability profile and degradation pathways

“…These results suggested that DP41 and DP42 might be formed by the loss of terminal xylose of DP39 and DP40. DP41 and DP42 were identified as GRk1 and GRg5, respectively, by comparing the retention times, precursor ions, product ions, and fragmentation behavior with that of reference standards .…”

Identification and Analysis of Components in Yizhi Granule and Cynomolgus Monkey Plasma after Oral Administration by UPLC/ESI-Q-TOF MS and Their Protective Effects on PC12 Cells

“…We recently showed that YZG improved memory barriers in animal experiments, and YZG could protect the PC12 from the damage induced by protein Aβ [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] [12][13][14][15]; however, the active ingredients remain unclear [16]. Although TCMs contain many components, only some are absorbed into the blood for biological activity.…”