Analysis of Sulfate Compounds From Sanguisorbae Radix and Its Major Metabolites in Rats by UPLC-MS/MS and Molecular Docking.

RATIONALE: Sanguisorbae Radix that mainly contains tannins and phenolic compounds has been widely used as a traditional Chinese medicine for treating hemafecia, hemorrhoids metrorrhagia and metrostaxis in clinics. However, there is no report about the sulfate phenolic compounds in Sanguisorbae Radix.

METHODS

Extraction of Sanguisorbae Radix was separated and purified by polyamide resin and octadecyl silane-bonded silica, which were analyzed by HPLC-IT-TOF/MS. Analysis of rat plasma and urine samples using UPLC-Q-TOF/MS. Finally, the newly discovered sulfate esters in Sanguisorbae Radix were investigated by molecular docking to find out the linkage and the possible mechanism to psoriasis.

RESULTS

The chemical structures of methyl-3-O-methylgallate-5-O-sulfate and methyl-3-O-methylgallate were elucidated by the spectral data of HRESIMS and NMR. In addition, 6 sulfate compounds were rapidly identified in Sanguisorbae Radix for the first time, among which 3 sulfate compounds were new natural products. Sixteen prototypes and 11 metabolites were found in rat plasma and urine samples, including 6 sulfate phenolic compounds, and their metabolic pathways in vivo were inferred. Molecular docking technique was used to validate the binding activity of methyl-3-O-methylgallate-5-O-sulfate to psoriasis-related target proteins.

CONCLUSIONS

In this study, sulfate phenolic compounds with high content in Sanguisorbae Radix and biological samples were isolated and characterized by modern spectroscopic techniques, which may provide a theoretical basis for the study of the pharmacological activity and quality control of Sanguisorbae Radix and development of sulfate drugs with a similar structure.