Review of the article „Investigation on the Metabolism of Curcumin and Baicalein in Zebrafish by Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry Analysis“, verified by Publons, Web of Science

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: Curcumin (CUR) and baicalein (BAI) are the main active ingredients in Scutellaria Baicalensis and Turmeric, which were combined in Jiang-Qin-Si-Wu decoction to treat gynecological diseases. Methods: Zebrafish embryos after hatching 48 hour were divided into four experiment groups. The blank group was exposed in 1 mL ultra-pure water. Three drug-treated groups were exposed in CUR (8 umoL/L, 1 mL), BAI (8 umoL/L, 1 mL), CUR and BAI (8 umoL/L, 2 mL), respectively. Then processed by homogenization and detected by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis. The relevant information about the metabolite was obtained in positive ion mode, and the structural information of the metabolites were determined based on its 33 corresponding MS2 spectra and the relevant literatures. According to the change of metabolite content, the metabolic effect of curcumin and baicalein was explored. Result: Five and six metabolites of CUR and BAI in zebrafish were identified by LC-MS/MS, respectively. And metabolic pathways of CUR and BAI in zebrafish were glucuronidation, sulfation, methylation and reduction. In addition, CUR inhibited the metabolism of BAI in zebrafish and reduced the metabolites of glucuronidation. Conclusion: Using LC-MS analysis, zebrafish is a feasible model for drug metabolism study. The results of metabolic study indicated that CUR might affect the 41 therapeutic effect of BAI.