Identification and comparison of anti-inflammatory ingredients from different organs of Lotus nelumbo by UPLC/Q-TOF and PCA coupled with a NF-κB reporter gene assay

PLoS One. 2013 Nov 29;8(11):e81971. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0081971. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

Lotus nelumbo (LN) (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.) is an aquatic crop that is widely distributed throughout Asia and India, and various parts of this plant are edible and medicinal. It is noteworthy that different organs of this plant are used in traditional herbal medicine or folk recipes to cure different diseases and to relieve their corresponding symptoms. The compounds that are contained in each organ, which are named based on their chemical compositions, have led to their respective usages. In this work, a strategy was used to identify the difference ingredients and screen for Nuclear-factor-kappaB (NF-κB) inhibitors with anti-inflammatory ability in LN. Seventeen main difference ingredients were compared and identified from 64 samples of 4 different organs by ultra-performance liquid chromatography that was coupled with quadrupole/time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/Q-TOF-MS) with principal component analysis (PCA). A luciferase reporter assay system combined with the UPLC/Q-TOF-MS information was applied to screen biologically active substances. Ten NF-κB inhibitors from Lotus plumule (LP) extracts, most of which were isoquinoline alkaloids or flavone C-glycosides, were screened. Heat map results showed that eight of these compounds were abundant in the LP. In conclusion, the LP extracts were considered to have the best anti-inflammatory ability of the four LN organs, and the chemical material basis (CMB) of this biological activity was successfully validated by multivariate statistical analysis and biological research methods.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents / isolation & purification*
  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents / pharmacology
  • Chromatography, Liquid / methods*
  • Genes, Reporter*
  • Mass Spectrometry
  • NF-kappa B / genetics*
  • Nelumbo / chemistry*
  • Principal Component Analysis

Substances

  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents
  • NF-kappa B

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants from the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctor Program of Higher Education of China (Nos.20120031110042), the Key Program of Natural Science of Foundation of Tianjin, China (Nos.13JCZDJC31400), and Innovative funding for graduates of tianjin medical university, third phase of the 211 project for higher education (No.2010GSI04). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.