Cardiac Muscle/Cell Membrane Chromatography-Offline-Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry Method to Identify Bioactive Components from Traditional Chinese Medicines

Abstract

An offline analytical method combining cardiac muscle/cell membrane chromatography (CM/CMC) with liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) to identify bioactive components from traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) such as Schisandrae Chinensis Fructus (SCF) and Schisandrae Sphenantherae Fructus (SSF) was developed. The stationary phase of the CM/CMC system employed rat cardiac muscle cell membranes. Fractions retained by the CM/CMC column were collected and analyzed by LC/MS under optimum offline conditions. After evaluating the suitability and reliability of the CM/CMC-offline-LC/MS method using nifedipine and nitrendipine as standards, this method was applied for screening and identification of bioactive components from the extracts of SCF and SSF. The main compounds in both species retained by CM/CMC were deoxyschizandrin (DSD) and schisantherin A (STA) as identified by LC/MS. In vivo pharmacological experiments suggested that DSD and STA could significantly decrease the myocardial-infarct size in rats injured by myocardial ischemia–reperfusion. Our CM/CMC-offline-LC/MS method could be used as an effective alternative for screening multiple receptor-binding bioactive components in TCMs such as FSC and FSS used to remedy cardiac diseases and may be useful for drug discovery using medicinal herbs as lead compounds.

Keywords:

• Cardiac muscle
• Cell membrane chromatography
• Deoxyschizandrin
• Liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry
• Schisantherin A

Acknowledgments

This research was funded by a grant from the Scientific and Technological Innovation Project Foundation of Shanxi China (grant number 20090321099).