Metabolic Profile of Indigo Naturalis in Rat Plasma, Bile, Urine, and Feces by UPLC-Q-TOF MS Method.
- 1Department of Translational Medicine Jiangsu Medical College 283 South of Republic Road Yancheng 224005 China.
- 2Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine Shenyang Pharmaceutical University 103 Wenhua Road Shenyang 110016 China syphu.edu.cn.
Abstract
Indigo naturalis (IN, Qing-Dai) is a well-established traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with extensive biological activities, particularly in the clinical management of ulcerative colitis (UC) and psoriasis. However, the comprehensive in vivo metabolic behavior of IN extract remains inadequately characterized. This research employed ultra-performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF MS) methodology to comprehensively examine the metabolic characteristics of IN in rat models. Biological samples, including plasma, bile, urine, and feces, were obtained from rats following single oral administration of IN extract. Sample preparation techniques involved protein precipitation, solid-phase extraction, and ultrasonic extraction for processing plasma, bile, urine, and feces specimens, respectively. Through precise mass measurement and fragment ion analysis, we identified 24 prototype compounds and 37 metabolites and clarified the transformation relationships between prototypes and their metabolites. The biotransformation pathways of IN components in rats primarily involved N- or O-glucuronidation, N- or O-sulfation, hydroxylation, dehydroxylation, demethylation, demethoxylation, decarbonylation, and reduction reactions. Our findings demonstrate that N-glucuronidation and N-sulfation represent the predominant metabolic reactions. This investigation marks the first systematic report on metabolite identification and metabolic pathway speculation of major constituents following oral administration of IN extract, providing a scientific foundation for understanding its in vivo processes.
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BibTeX
@article{zhang2026metabolic,
title = {{Metabolic Profile of Indigo Naturalis in Rat Plasma, Bile, Urine, and Feces by UPLC-Q-TOF MS Method.}},
author = {Guozhe Zhang and Jianting Liu and Dan Yuan and Yiyu Qin},
journal = {Journal of analytical methods in chemistry},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1155/jamc/8592761},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42948172},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Metabolic Profile of Indigo Naturalis in Rat Plasma, Bile, Urine, and Feces by UPLC-Q-TOF MS Method.
AU - Guozhe Zhang
AU - Jianting Liu
AU - Dan Yuan
AU - Yiyu Qin
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/27
JO - Journal of analytical methods in chemistry
DO - 10.1155/jamc/8592761
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42948172
AB - Indigo naturalis (IN, Qing-Dai) is a well-established traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with extensive biological activities, particularly in the clinical management of ulcerative colitis (UC) and psoriasis. However, the comprehensive in vivo metabolic behavior of IN extract remains inadequately characterized. This research employed ultra-performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF MS) methodology to comprehensively examine the metabolic characteristics of IN in rat models. Biological samples, including plasma, bile, urine, and feces, were obtained from rats following single oral administration of IN extract. Sample preparation techniques involved protein precipitation, solid-phase extraction, and ultrasonic extraction for processing plasma, bile, urine, and feces specimens, respectively. Through precise mass measurement and fragment ion analysis, we identified 24 prototype compounds and 37 metabolites and clarified the transformation relationships between prototypes and their metabolites. The biotransformation pathways of IN components in rats primarily involved N- or O-glucuronidation, N- or O-sulfation, hydroxylation, dehydroxylation, demethylation, demethoxylation, decarbonylation, and reduction reactions. Our findings demonstrate that N-glucuronidation and N-sulfation represent the predominant metabolic reactions. This investigation marks the first systematic report on metabolite identification and metabolic pathway speculation of major constituents following oral administration of IN extract, providing a scientific foundation for understanding its in vivo processes.
SN - 2090-8865
SN - 2090-8873
ER -