Qualitative Analysis and Quality Evaluation of Pimpinella thellungiana by Serum Pharmacochemistry, Network Pharmacology, and QAMS

Abstract

Background: Pimpinella thellungiana H. Wolff (P. thellungiana) is widely used as a Chinese medicinal herb to treat coronary heart disease (CHD). However, the bioactive compounds of this herbal medicine have not been defined, and quality control is imperfect.

Objective: To develop methods for qualitative analysis and improved quality evaluation of P. thellungiana.

Method: In this study, UHPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap MS, network pharmacology, and molecular docking approaches were applied to explore the quality markers of P. thellungiana. A quantitative analysis of multi-components via a single marker (QAMS) method was developed to simultaneously detect nine quality markers of P. thellungiana.

Results: Nine compounds were selected as quality markers for quality control of P. thellungiana: protocatechuic acid, neochlorogenic acid, chlorogenic acid, cryptochlorogenic acid, luteolin-7-O-glucuronide, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 4,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, apigenin-7-O-glucuronide, and 4,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid. The established QAMS method was validated and applied in 10 batches of P. thellungiana samples.

Conclusions: These findings facilitate effective quality evaluation of P. thellungiana and suggest this approach could be applied to evaluate the quality of other herbal medicines.

Highlights: UHPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap MS was used to detect 36 compounds in P. thellungiana and 40 compounds in rat plasma after dosing with P. thellungiana. Quality markers were selected based on detection of compounds absorbed into rat plasma and network pharmacology analysis.