• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.539-549
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• 2019

Background: 20(S)-Protopanaxadiol (PPD), the aglycone part of 20(S)-protopanaxadiol ginsenosides, possesses antidepressant activity among many other pharmacological activities. It is currently undergoing clinical trial in China as an antidepressant. Methods: In this study, an ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole time-of-flight mass tandem mass spectrometry method was established to identify the metabolites of PPD in human plasma and urine following oral administration in phase IIa clinical trial. Results: A total of 40 metabolites in human plasma and urine were identified using this method. Four metabolites identified were isolated from rat feces, and two of them were analyzed by NMR to elucidate the exact structures. The structures of isolated compounds were confirmed as (20S,24S)-epoxydammarane-12,23,25-triol-3-one and (20S,24S)-epoxydammarane-3,12,23,25-tetrol. Both compounds were found as metabolites in human for the first time. Upon comparing our findings with the findings of the in vitro study of PPD metabolism in human liver microsomes and human hepatocytes, metabolites with m/z 475.3783 and phase II metabolites were not found in our study whereas metabolites with m/z 505.3530, 523.3641, and 525.3788 were exclusively detected in our experiments. Conclusion: The metabolites identified using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry in our study were mostly hydroxylated metabolites. This indicated that PPD was metabolized in human body mainly through phase I hepatic metabolism. The main metabolites are in 20,24-oxide form with multiple hydroxylation sites. Finally, the metabolic pathways of PPD in vivo (human) were proposed based on structural analysis.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.382-394
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• 2016

Background: Ginsenosides are the characteristic and principal components which manifest a variety of the biological and pharmacological activities of the roots and rhizomes of Panax ginseng (GRR). This study was carried out to qualitatively and quantitatively determine the ginsenosides in the cultivated and forest GRR. Methods: A rapid and sensitive ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode-array detector and quadrupole/time of flight tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-DAD-QTOF-MS/MS) was applied to the qualitative analysis of ginsenosides and a 4000 QTRAP triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer (HPLC-ESI-MS) was applied to quantitative analysis of 19 ginsenosides. Results: In the qualitative analysis, all ingredients were separated in 10 min. A total of 131 ginsenosides were detected in cultivated and forest GRR. The method for the quantitative determination was validated for linearity, precision, and limits of detection and quantification. 19 representative ginsenosides were quantitated. The total content of all 19 ginsenosides in the forest GRR were much higher than those in the cultivated GRR, and were increased with the growing ages. Conclusion: This newly developed analysis method could be applied to the quality assessment of GRR as well as the distinction between cultivated and forest GRR.