Development of liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry methods for the quantitative analysis of herbal medicine in biological fluids: a review

Abstract

The development of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and tandem MS/MS for the analysis of bioactive components and their metabolites of herbal medicines in biological fluids is reviewed with the aim of providing an overview of the current techniques and methods used. The issues and challenges associated with various stages of the analytical method development are discussed using Ginkgo biloba and Panax ginseng as case studies. LC-MS offers selectivity and specificity in both the chromatographic separation and detection steps. This is necessary in order to measure compounds at extremely low concentrations as is often observed in plasma and urine samples. Traditional methods of detection (UV-visible) do not offer sufficient selectivity and specificity needed. The strategies and pitfalls involved with the measurement of such compounds are discussed in this review. Matrix effects, 'unseen' matrix suppression and enhancement ionization effects can significantly reduce the accuracy and precision of the measurement. The impact of the correct choice of chromatography column formats on signal-to-noise ratio is also discussed. Analytical methods from sample preparation to mass spectrometric detection is outlined in order to provide good direction for analysts intent on the measurement of bioavailable compounds from herbal medicines in plasma and urine samples.

Botanicals inRibes nigrumbud-preparations: An analytical fingerprinting to evaluate the bioactive contribution to total phytocomplex

“…By hyphenating highperformance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry, the high quality demand of the consumer is fulfilled, providing the lab technicians with a multitude of technical options and applications (Gray et al, 2010;Steinmann & Ganzera, 2011).…”

“…The most important chromatographic or electrophoretic techniques coupled to different detectors are employed for this purpose. Highperformance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is still the preferred separation technique for the analysis of natural products (Gray et al, 2010).…”

Recent developments in qualitative and quantitative analysis of phytochemical constituents and their metabolites using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry

“…In 2008 Zhou et al analyzed caged xanthones possessing a unique 4-oxa-tricyclo[4.3.1.0 3,7 ]dec-2-one scaffold in the resin of Garcinia hanburyi (gamboges) (Fig. 1) [89].…”

“…Moreover, the active components of many medicinal plants are still not known and the pharmaceutical activity might be caused by synergistic effects of all of the major and minor components in the medicinal plants. Therefore, profiling of the chemical composition [225] using analytical tools with high sensitivity and selectivity are in great demand for evaluating the efficacy, safety and consistency of medicinal plants or herbal products, especially when quality control of TCMs is taken into account [7,57,213]. In this respect, chromatographic fingerprinting techniques can arguably fulfil these requirements, and thus have received considerable attention with annual amount of publications in this field increasing significantly over the past years.…”

“…However, the inherent complexity and variability of botanical extracts has presented significant challenges for separation and detection methods enabling rapid analysis of the chemical composition of medicinal plants [6]. Furthermore, in pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies, determination and quantification of trace metabolites of natural products in complex biological matrices also requires sophisticated analytical methods with high sensitivity and selectivity [7,8].…”