Metabolic profile of Fructus Gardeniae in human plasma and urine using ultra high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution LTQ-orbitrap mass spectrometry

1. In China, Fructus Gardeniae was used as a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with a wide array of biological activities. The bioactive components identified in Fructus Gardeniae mainly included iridoids, flavonids, pigments, and so on. Among them, iridoids were regarded as important compounds in Fructus Gardeniae. Though analyses of the constituents in biological samples after oral administration of Fructus Gardeniae effective fraction or its active compounds have been reported, few efforts have been made to investigate the metabolic profile of Fructus Gardeniae in humans. In this study, the constituents and metabolites of Fructus Gardeniae in human blood and urine after oral administration of Fructus Gardeniae were investigated using ultra high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) coupled with high-resolution LTQ-Orbitrap mass spectrometery.

2. Totally, 14 constituents (two parent compounds and 12 metabolites) of Fructus Gardeniae were identified in human plasma and urine either by comparing the retention time and mass spectrometry data with that of reference compounds or by the accurate high-resolution MS/MS data of the chemicals. The compounds identified were mainly iridoid glycosides such as geniposide and the derivatives of genipin-O-glucuronide. Among them, 11 metabolites were detected in human plasma and urine while the other three metabolites including geniposidic acid (M1), demethylation derivative of genipin-O-glucuronide (M2), and dehydration product of mono-hydroxylated genipin-O-glucuronide (M9) were only discovered in human urine. Further, the possible metabolic pathways of Fructus Gardeniae in vivo were proposed and the peak area–time curve of the most abundant metabolite genipin-O-glucuronide (M13) in human plasma after oral administration of Fructus Gardeniae was depicted. The results suggested that a metabolic difference existed between rats and humans.

3. The results obtained in the present research would provide basic information to understand the metabolic profile of Fructus Gardeniae in humans and explore the chemicals responsible for the hepatotoxicity of Fructus Gardeniae in vivo. Moreover, it would be beneficial for us to further study the pharmacokinetic behavior of Fructus Gardeniae in humans systematically.