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. 2022 Dec 24;13(1):33.
doi: 10.3390/metabo13010033.

Sex Differences in the In Vivo Exposure Process of Multiple Components of Gelsemium elegans in Rats

Meng-Ting Zuo  1   2 , Meng-Die Gong  1   2 , Xiao Ma  1   2 , Wen-Bo Xu  1   2 , Zi-Yuan Wang  1   2 , Mo-Huan Tang  1   2 , Yong Wu  1   2 , Zhao-Ying Liu  1   2
Affiliations

Sex Differences in the In Vivo Exposure Process of Multiple Components of Gelsemium elegans in Rats

Meng-Ting Zuo et al. Metabolites. .

Abstract

Asian Gelsemium elegans (G. elegans) has a wide range of pharmacological activities. However, its strong toxicity limits its potential development and application. Interestingly, there are significant gender differences in G. elegans toxicity in rats. This work aimed to elucidate the overall absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) of whole G. elegans crude extract in female and male rats using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC/QqTOF-MS), which facilitates determining the reasons for the gender differences in toxicity. A total of 25 absorbed bioactive components and 3 related produced metabolites were tentatively identified in female rats, while only 17 absorbed bioactive components and 3 related produced metabolites were identified in male rats. By comparison of peak intensities, most compounds were found to be more active in absorption, distribution and excretion in female rats than in male rats, which showed that female rats were more sensitive to G. elegans. This study was the first to investigate the multicomponent in vivo process of G. elegans in rats and compare the differences between sexes. It was hypothesized that differences in the absorption of gelsedine-type alkaloids were one of the main reasons for the sex differences in G. elegans toxicity.

Keywords: Gelsemium elegans; absorption; distribution; gelsenicine; metabolism; toxicity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A comparative analysis of absorbed bioactive components in male and female rats. (a) The total amount of absorbed bioactive components in male and female rats. (b) The amount of absorbed bioactive components of different types in male and female rats.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Accurate extracted ion chromatograms (EICs) of natural products of gelsemine alkaloids (a) and their metabolites (b) obtained from samples.
Figure 3
Figure 3
An accurate extracted ion chromatograms (EICs) of gelsedine-type alkaloids (a) and sarpagine-type alkaloids (b).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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