An easy and rapid method to determine aristolochic acids I and II with high sensitivity

Aristolochic acid (AA), a natural component in some Chinese medicinal plants, is nephrotoxic and carcinogenic, and is involved in a specific type of renal fibrosis, called Chinese herbs nephropathy (CHN). In this paper, we report the electrochemistry of AA and a novel method to detect the species based on the electrochemical studies. The detection limit is estimated to be 1.0x10(-8) M with a linear range from 5.0x10(-8) M to 1.3x10(-6) M. Meanwhile, this method is applicable in detection in real samples, such as Caulis Aristolochiae Manshuriensis (CAM), Radix Aristolochiae (RA), Fructus Aristolochiae (FA) and Radix Stephaniae Tetrandrae (RST). The concentration of AA in the CAM sample was 3.50 +/- 0.12x10(-4) M. Consistent results have been obtained from both the electrochemical approach described here and the previously reported HPLC method.