AIM： To prepare high-purity ginseng total saponins from a water decoction of Chinese ginseng root.METHOD： Total saponins were efficiently purified by dynamic anion-cation exchange following the removal of hydrophilic impurities by macroporous resin D101. For quality control, ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography with a charged aerosol detector （CAD） was applied to quantify marker components. The total saponin content was estimated by a colorimetric method using a vanillin-vitriol system and CAD response. RESULTS： D201, which consisted of a cross-linked polystyrene matrix and -]N＋（CI-13）3 functional groups, was the best of the four anion exchange resins tested. However, no significant difference in cation exchange ability was observed between D001 （strong acid） and D 113 （weak acid）, although they have different functional groups and matrices. After purification in combination with D101, D201, and D 113, the estimated contents of total saponins were 107% and 90% according to the colorimetric method and CAD response, respectively. The total amount of representative ginsenosides Re, Rd, Rgl, and compound K was approximately 22% based on ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-CAD quantitative analysis. CONCLUSION： These findings suggest that an ion exchange resin, combined with macroporous adsorption resin separation, is a promising and feasible purification procedure for neutral natural polar components.
Long-term exposure to stress or high glucocorticoid levels leads to depression-like behavior in rodents; however, the cause remains unknown. Increasing evidence shows that astrocytes, the most abundant cells in the central nervous system （CNS）, are important to the nervous system. Astrocytes nourish and protect the neurons, and serve as glycogen repositories for the brain. The metabolic process of glycogen, which is closely linked to neuronal activity, can supply sufficient energy substrates for neurons. The research team probed into the effects of chronic corticosterone （CORT） exposure on the glycogen level of astrocytes in the hippocampal tissues of male C57BL/6N mice in this study. The results showed that chronic CORT injection reduced hippocampal neurofilament light protein （NF-L） and synaptophysin （SYP） levels, induced depression-like behavior in male mice, reduced hippocampal gly- cogen level and glycogen synthase activity, and increased glycogen phosphorylase activity. The results suggested that the reduction of the hippocampal glycogen level may be the mechanism by which chronic CORT treatment damages hippocampal neurons and induces depression-like behavior in male mice.
AIM: Variation in structure-related components in plant products prompted the trend to establish methods, using multiple or total analog analysis, for their effective quality control. However, the general use of routine quality control is restricted by the limited availability of reference substances. Using an easily available single marker as a reference standard to determine multiple or total analogs should be a practical option. METHOD: In this study, the Ultra-HPLC method was used for the baseline separation of the main components in ginseng extracts. Using a plant chemical component database, ginsenosides in ginseng extracts were identified by Ultra-HPLC-MS analysis. The charged aerosol detection(CAD) system with post-column compensation of the gradient generates a similar response for identical amounts of different analytes, and thus, the content of each ginsenoside in ginseng extracts was determined by comparing the analyte peak area with the reference standard(determination of total analogs by single marker, DTSM). The total ginsenoside content was determined by the summation of reference standard and other ginsenoside components. RESULTS: The results showed that DTSM approaches were available for the determination of total ginsenosides in a high purity ginseng extract because of the removal of impurities. In contrast, DTSM approaches might be suitable for determination of multiple ginsenosides without interference from impurities in the crude ginseng extract. CONCLUSION: Future practical studies similar to the present study should be conducted to verify that DTSM approaches based on CAD with post-column inverse gradient for uniform response are ideal for the quality control of plant products.
