[Advances in study of dioscin--a natural product].[Pubmed: 25993784]

Dioscin, a typical saponin, is widely present in the family of Dioscoreaceae, Liliaceae, Caryophyllaceae and Rosaceae, especially in Dioscoreaceae, including Discorea nipponica Makino, Dioscorea zingiberensis C. H. Wright and Dioscorea panthaica Prain et Burkill. Traditional Chinese medicine reported that dioscin plays a role in expectorant, relaxing the muscles and stimulating the blood circulation, aiding digestion and diuresis. With the development of science and technology in recent years, some new extraction and separation techniques and methods have been applied to the study of dioscin, and more and more pharmacological effects were found. Modern pharmacology studies have confirmed that dioscin had some activities on desensitization, anti-inflammatory, lipid-lowering, anti-tumor, hepatoprotection and anti-viral. After oral administration, dioscin is metabolized to diosgenin, which is the true active ingredient and is an important raw material to synthesize steroid hormone drugs. Therefore, the studies on dioscin are valueable and promising. In this review, we make a summary on the researches of dioscin including the extraction technology, separation and prepara- tion, chemical synthesis, drug metabolism, determination and pharmacological researches.

UPLC-QTOF-MS identification of metabolites in rat biosamples after oral administration of Dioscorea saponins: a comparative study.[Pubmed: 25698242]

Among the 49 species of the genus Dioscorea distributed in China, Dioscorea nipponica Makino (DN), Dioscorea panthaica Prain et Burkill (DP), and Dioscorea zingiberensis C. H. Wright (DZ) possess more or less similar traditional therapeutic actions, such as activating blood, relieving pain, and dispersing swelling; they have been used as folk medicine in China since 1950s. The modern pharmaceutical industry has developed these three species as herbal medicines that have been used for decades for treating cardiovascular diseases. However, there is no available information in the literature explaining how their chemical components are converted and interrelated in vivo to support their efficacies. The present study aimed to a) compare the metabolic profiles of saponins from DN, DP and DZ, which are considered to be their bioactive components, and b) to compare the changes in sustained levels of metabolites from rat biosamples.

Ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-ion trap mass spectrometry characterization of the steroidal saponins of Dioscorea panthaica Prain et Burkill and its application for accelerating the isolation and structural elucidation of steroidal saponins.[Pubmed: 25575790]

Dioscorea panthaica is a traditional Chinese medicinal herb used in the treatment of various physiological conditions, including cardiovascular disease, gastropathy and hypertension. Steroidal saponins (SS) are the main active ingredients of this herb and have effects on myocardial ischemia and cancer. The phytochemical evaluation of SS is both time-consuming and laborious, and the isolation and structural determination steps can be especially demanding. For this reason, the development of new methods to accelerate the processes involved in the identification, isolation and structural elucidation of SS is highly desirable. In this study, a new ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography-ion trap mass spectrometry (UHPLC-IT/MS(n)) method has been developed for the identification of the SS in D. panthaica Prain et Burkill. Notably, the current method can distinguish between spirostanol and furostanol-type compounds based on the fragmentation patterns observed by electrospray ionization-ion trap mass spectrometry (ESI-IT/MS(n)) analysis. UHPLC-IT/MS(n) was used to conduct a detailed investigation of the number, structural class and order of the sugar moieties in the sugar chains of the SS present in D. panthaica. The established fragmentation features were used to analyze the compounds found in the 65% ethanol fraction of the water extracts of D. panthaica. Twenty-three SS were identified, including 11 potential new compounds and six groups of isomers. Two of these newly identified SS were selected as representative examples, and their chemical structures were confirmed by (1)H and (13)C NMR analyses. This newly developed UHPLC-IT/MS(n) method therefore allowed for the efficient identification, isolation and structural determination of the SS in D. panthaica.

Quantification of saponins in Dioscorea panthaica Prain et Burk rhizomes with monolithic column using rapid resolution liquid chromatography coupled with a triple quadruple electrospray tandem mass spectrometry.[Pubmed: 22938799]

The identification and quantification of saponins in crude extracts are challenging because of their similar structures and weak ultraviolet absorption. In this study, a rapid resolution liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadruple electrospray tandem mass spectrometric method was established to identify and quantify steroid saponins in the rhizomes of Dioscorea panthaica Prain et Burk, a traditional Chinese medicine. Six steroid saponins were simultaneously determined and quantified within 9min. All analytes were subjected to a RP-18e (50mm×2mm) monolithic column using a gradient elution program with a final detection using electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry in the negative ionization mode. The rapid resolution liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry method achieved a limit of detection ranging from 0.52 to 20.40ngmL(-1) and a limit of quantification ranging from 1.20 to 75.20ngmL(-1) for the six studied steroidal saponins. The intra-day and inter-day precision (RSD) were less than 5.34%, and the recovery (RSD) was 1.50-3.51%. The highly sensitive and rapid method is suitable for the quantification of steroidal saponins in D. panthaica rhizomes.

Ligand fishing with functionalized magnetic nanoparticles coupled with mass spectrometry for herbal medicine analysis: ligand fishing for herbal medicine analysis.[Pubmed: 21088827]

The chemical composition of herbal medicines is very complex, and their therapeutic effects are determined by multi-components with sophisticated synergistic and/or suppressive actions. Therefore, quality control of herbal medicines has been a formidable challenge. In this work, we describe a fast analytical method that can be used for quality assessment of herbal medicines. The method is based on ligand fishing using human-serum-albumin-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (HSA-MNPs) and mass spectrometry. To demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method, eight samples of Dioscorea panthaica were analyzed. The sampled plants were of both wild and cultivated origins. They grew at different geographical locations and were harvested at different times. The ligands bound to HSA-MNPs were isolated from the plant extracts and detected by using direct infusion electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (DI-ESI-MS). Chemical identity has been confirmed for five of the ligands isolated. From more than 15 peaks in the ESI-MS spectrum, 11 common peaks were selected for calculating the correlation coefficient and cosine ratio. The values of correlation coefficient and cosine ratio were >0.9824 and >0.9988, respectively, for all the samples tested. The results indicated a high level of similarity among the eight D. panthaica samples. Compared with chromatographic fingerprint analysis, the proposed HSA-MNP-based DI-ESI-MS/MS approach was not only fast and easy to carry out but also biological-activity-oriented, promising a more effective data interpretation and thus reliable assessment conclusions.

Rapid probe and isolation of bioactive compounds from Dioscorea panthaica using human serum albumin functionalized magnetic nano-particles (HSA-MNPs)-based ligand fishing coupled with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.[Pubmed: 20973009]

The chemical diversity of secondary metabolites in medicinal plant makes it a huge challenge to isolate the bioactive compounds from herbal extracts, so quick recognition of the bioactive ones is of vital importance for improving the efficiency of isolation. In this study, a ligand fishing experiment based on human serum albumin functionalized magnetic nano-particles (HSA-MNPs) was performed to probe the bioactive components in a traditional Chinese medicinal plant, Dioscorea panthaica. The minor compounds fished out by HSA-MNPs were identified by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), and then separated from the extract of the whole plant by one or two steps of column chromatography under the guidance of ESI-MS. Four biologically active compounds, progenin II, progenin III, dioscin and gracillin, were isolated much faster than in the normal lengthy phytochemical procedure. The present study demonstrates that biological macromolecule (protein, enzyme, receptor, et al.) functionalized MNPs may serve as baits to recognize bioactive small molecules in complex herbal extracts. It is expected that a macromolecule functionalized MNPs-based ligand fishing experiment coupled with ESI-MS may accelerate the process of identification and isolation of bioactive components from medicinal plants, and thus benefit the speed of drug discovery.

[Determination of pseudoprodioscin in Dioscorea panthaica by HPLC].[Pubmed: 20069905]

To develop an HPLC method for the determination of pseudoprodioscin in Dioscorea panthaica and provide scientific basis for quality control of it and its preparation.