Quantification Analysis and Antioxidant Activity of Leejung-tang

Objectives : Leejung-tang (Lizhong-tang) has been used for treatment of gastrointestinal disorders in Korea. In this study, we performed quantification analysis of five marker components, liquiritin, ginsenoside Rb1, ginsenoside Rg1, glycyrrhizin, and 6-gingerol in Leejung-tang using a ultra performance liquid chromatography- electrospray ionization-mass spectrometer (UPLC-ESI-MS). In addition, we evaluated antioxidant activity of Leejung- tang. Methods : The column for separation of five constituents used a UPLC BEH C18 ($100{\times}2.1mm$, $1.7{\mu}m$) maintained at $45^{\circ}C$. The mobile phase consisted of two solvent systems, 0.1% (v/v) formic acid in H2O (A) and CH3CN (B) by gradient flow. The flow rate was 0.3 mL/min with detection at mass spectrometer. The antioxidative activities conduct an experiment on 2,2'-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) and 2,2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activities of Leejung-tang. Results : Calibration curves of five marker compounds were acquired with r2 values > 0.99. The amount of the five compounds in Leejung-tang were 0.07 - 0.84 mg/g. The concentration required for 50% reduction (RC50) against ABTS radical was 119.02 ug/mL. In addition, the scavenging against DPPH radical of Leejung-tang was 11.4%, 14.5%, 19.8%, 29.6%, and 49.2% at 25 ug/mL, $50{\mu}g/mL$, $100{\mu}g/mL$, $200{\mu}g/mL$, and $400{\mu}g/mL$, respectively. Conclusions : The established LC-MS/MS method will be helpful to improve quality control of Leejung-tang. In addition, Leejung-tang is a potential antioxidant therapeutic agent.

LC-MS/MS를 이용한 이중탕(理中湯)의 정량분석 및 항산화 활성