• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.70-75
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• 2018

Acer tegmentosum Maxim (ATM) has been used to treat hepatic disorders in traditional oriental medicine. However, there is little information about phytochemical constituents for quality control of ATM. In this study, we developed and established a simultaneous analytical method of the 10 marker compounds (three coumarins, 3 flavonoids, 1 lignan, 3 phenolics) in ATM using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). Chromatographic separation of ten target analytes was achieved with a Waters Acquity UPLC BEH $C_{18}$ analytical column ($2.1{\times}100mm$, $1.7{\mu}m$), using a mobile phase of 0.1% (v/v) formic acid in water and acetonitrile with gradient elution. Identifications and quantitation of all analytes were performed using a Q-Exactive UPLC-MS/MS system. Correlation coefficients of the calibration curve for all analytes were ${\geq}0.9986$. The values of limits of detection and quantification of all analytes were 0.5-10.0 and 5.0-50.0 ng/mL, respectively. The established UPLC-MS/MS method successfully identified all target analytes in ATM, and the phytochemicals were 0.01-67.98 mg/g in its lyophilized water extract.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.1133-1138
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• 2014

Ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI- MS/MS) provides a high-speed method to screen a large number of samples for small molecules with specific properties. In this study, UPLC-ESI-MS/MS with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) was employed to screen urinary phospholipid (PL) content for biomarkers of prostate cancer. From lists of urinary PLs structurally identified using nanoflow LC-ESI-MS/MS, 52 PL species were selected for quantitative analysis in urine samples between 22 cancer-free urologic patients as controls and 45 prostate cancer patients. Statistical treatment of data by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis yielded 14 PL species that differed significantly in relative concentrations (area under curve (AUC) > 0.8) between the two groups. Among PLs present at higher levels in prostate cancer urine, phosphatidylcholines (PCs) and phosphatidylinositols (PIs) constituted the major head group PLs (3 PCs and 7 PIs). For technical reasons, PL species of low abundance may be underrepresented in data from UPLC-ESI-MS/MS performed in MRM mode. However, the proposed method enables the rapid screening of large numbers of plasma or urine samples in the search for biomarkers of human disease.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.60 no.1
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• pp.15-20
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• 2016

Globotriaosylsphingosine (lyso Gb3) is considered as one of the biomarkers for Fabry disease. A rapid and simple UPLC-MS/MS method was developed for the determination of reliable biomarker, lyso Gb3. Total analytical procedure takes only 15 min including sample preparation and MS/MS analysis. Limit of detection was 0.85 ng/ml (S/N=3). The calibration curve was linear over the range of 2.0~400.0 ng/ml ($R^2=0.9999$). Inter-day and intra-day assay accuracy were 93.4~100.6% (RSD, 0.6~6.0%) and 97.5~100.7% (RSD, 3.6~5.2%). Absolute recoveries of 97.6~98.6 showed excellence of a new analytical method. The method was applied to human and mice urines, proved the suitability for the quantification of lyso-Gb3 for screening, diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of Fabry disease patients.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.587-594
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• 2020

In this study, we analyzed glucosinolates and their metabolites in the inner and outer parts of napa cabbage (NC; Brassica rapa subsp. pekinensis) and napa cabbage kimchi (NKC) using UPLC-ESI-MS/MS. In the extracts from NC and NKC, glucobrassicanapin (m/z 386), glucoalyssin (m/z 450), glucobrassicin (m/z 447), 4-methoxyglucobrassicin (m/z 477), and neoglucobrassicin (m/z 477) were detected using the MS scan mode ([M-H]-), and gluconapin (m/z 372→97), progoitrin (m/z 388→97), glucoiberin (m/z 422→97), 4-methoxyglucobrassicin (m/z 477→97), and neoglucobrassicin (m/z 477→447) were detected using the MS/MS MRM mode ([M-H]-). Ascorbigen (m/z 306→130) and indole-3-carboxaldehyde (I3A; m/z 146→118), which were metabolites of glucobrassicins, were detected using the MS/MS MRM ([M+H]+) mode. The peak intensities of ascorbigen in the extract from the inner and outer parts of NC were significantly higher than those of the NKC extract (p<0.05); however, there was no significant difference in I3A peak intensity between the NC and NKC extracts.

• Translational and Clinical Pharmacology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.134-140
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• 2018

This study aimed to develop a UPLC-MS/MS method for determining plasma levels of L-aspartic acid and L-asparagine and the activity of L-asparaginase. L-aspartic acid, L-asparagine, and L-aspartic acid-2,3,3-$d_3$ were extracted from human plasma by protein precipitation with sulfosalicylic acid (30%, v/v). The plasma samples were analyzed using an Imtakt Intrada amino acid analysis column with 25 mM ammonium formate and 0.5% formic acid in acetonitrile as the mobile phase with step gradient method at a flow rate of 0.5 mL/min. The injection volume was $5{\mu}L$, and the total run time was 15 min. Inter- and intra-batch accuracies (%) ranged from 96.62-106.0% for L-aspartic acid and 89.85-104.8%, for L-asparagine, and the coefficient of variation (CV%) did not exceed 7%. The validation results for L-aspartic acid and L-asparagine satisfied the specified criterion, however, the results for L-asparaginase activity assay showed a borderline validity. This study could be a foundation for further development of therapeutic drug monitoring systems using UPLC-MS/MS.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.277-290
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• 2012

The metabolic profiles of Panax quinquefolius and its associated therapeutic values are critically affected by the repetitious steaming times. The times-dependent steaming effect of P. quinquefolius is not well-characterized and there is also no official guideline on its times of steaming. In this paper, a UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS method was developed for the qualitative profiling of multi-parametric metabolic changes of raw P. quinquefolius during the repetitious steaming process. Our method was successful in discriminating the differentially multi-steamed herbs. Meantime, the repetitious steaming-inducing chemical transformations in the preparation of black American ginseng (American ginseng that was subjected to 9 cycles of steaming treatment) were evaluated by this UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS based chemical profiling method. Under the optimized UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS conditions, 29 major ginsenosides were unambiguously identified and/or tentatively assigned in both raw and multi-steamed P. quinquefolius within 19 min, among them 18 ginsenosides were detected to be newly generated during the preparatory process of black American ginseng. The mechanisms involved were further deduced to be hydrolysis, dehydration, decarboxylation and addition reactions of the original ginsenosides in raw P. quinquefolius through analyzing mimic 9 cycles of steaming extracts of 14 pure reference ginsenosides. Our novel steaming times-dependent metabolic profiling approach represents the paradigm shift in the global quality control of multi-steamed P. quinquefolius products.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.68 no.4
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• pp.191-198
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• 2024

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are compounds that come from outside the body and disrupt hormone action within the body's endocrine system. Examples include parabens, benzophenones, bisphenols, and phthalates, which are currently used in a wide range of applications. However, continuous exposure to them can have negative effects on glycemic control, reproduction, metabolism, nervous system development, pregnancy, childbirth, and growth. In this study, human samples (urine) were pretreated using liquid-liquid-extraction to determine the exposure level of EDCs and then analyzed effectively and rapidly by UPLC-MS/MS. In this way, the analytical conditions were established and the reliability of the simultaneous analysis method was evaluated through method validation. The results showed that the accuracy ranged from 75.28 to 122.36% and the precision ranged from 2.16 to 22.74%. The analytical method established in this study can be used as a methodology for future studies to evaluate and monitor the exposure of EDCs in human samples.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.197-203
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• 2014

A rapid, accurate and precise method for the determination of 22 amino acids in Isatidis Radix by Hydrophilic Interaction Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Triple-Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry (HILIC-UPLC-MS/MS) was established. Chromatographic separation was carried out on a Acquity UPLC BEH Amide column ($2.1mm{\times}100mm$, $1.7{\mu}m$) with gradient elution of acetonitrile (containing 0.05% formic acid and 2 mM ammonium formate) and water (containing 0.15% formic acid and 10 mM ammonium formate) at a flow rate of 0.4 mL/min; Waters Xevo$^{TM}$ TQ worked in multiple reaction monitoring mode. All components were separated in 17 min. All calibration curves were linear ($R^2$ > 0.991) over the tested ranges. The limits of detection (LOD) and limits of quantitation (LOQ) for these compounds were 0.21-79.55 and 0.72-294.23 ng/mL, respectively. The average recoveries were in the range of 93.75-104.16% with RSD value less than 6.56%. Therefore, this method could be an alternative assay for the determination of 22 amino acids in Isatidis Radix due to its rapidness, sensitivity, less sample and solvent consumption.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.59-65
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• 2014

Discriminating between two herbal medicines (Panax ginseng and Panax quinquefolius), with similar chemical and physical properties but different therapeutic effects, is a very serious and difficult problem. Differentiation between two processed ginseng genera is even more difficult because the characteristics of their appearance are very similar. An ultraperformance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF MS)-based metabolomic technique was applied for the metabolite profiling of 40 processed P. ginseng and processed P. quinquefolius. Currently known biomarkers such as ginsenoside Rf and F11 have been used for the analysis using the UPLC-photodiode array detector. However, this method was not able to fully discriminate between the two processed ginseng genera. Thus, an optimized UPLC-QTOF-based metabolic profiling method was adapted for the analysis and evaluation of two processed ginseng genera. As a result, all known biomarkers were identified by the proposed metabolomics, and additional potential biomarkers were extracted from the huge amounts of global analysis data. Therefore, it is expected that such metabolomics techniques would be widely applied to the ginseng research field.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.431-437
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• 2019

This study was conducted to develop a simultaneous analysis method for ferulic acid, caffeic acid, catechin and taxifolin from Health Functional Food (HFF) Pinus Pinaster bark extract. The simultaneous analytical method for ferulic acid, caffeic acid, catechin and taxifolin is carried out using UPLC-MS/MS. The method validation was performed to determine selectivity, linearity, accuracy, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ) and precision for ferulic acid, caffeic acid, catechin and taxifolin. LC-MS/MS method was established using an Acquity UPLC BEH $C_{18}$ Column and was applied for these 4 compounds. Product-ion traces, at m/z $194.2{\rightarrow}133$, $180.2{\rightarrow}135$, $290.3{\rightarrow}245$, $304.3{\rightarrow}248$, were used for quantitative analysis of ferulic acid, caffeic acid, catechin and taxifolin, respectively. Excellent linearity ($r^2=0.999$) was observed for ferulic acid, caffeic acid, catechin and taxifolin in the concentration range (50-2500 mg/L). The observed recoveries of these 4 compounds were found to be between 84.9 and 104.9%, while precision was between 1.20 and 4.43% relative standard deviation (% RSD).