Comprehensive Analysis of Chemical and Bioavailable Components of Compound Shougong Powder Using UHPLC-HRMS.

Area of Science:

• Pharmacology and Traditional Chinese Medicine
• Chemical analysis of herbal formulations
• Cancer research and therapeutic mechanisms

Background:

• Compound Shougong Powder (CSP) is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine used as an adjuvant therapy for malignant tumors, known for reducing swelling and pain.
• The specific chemical constituents and the material basis for CSP's efficacy, particularly its anti-tumor effects, remain incompletely understood.
• Clarifying the chemical composition and in vivo behavior of CSP is crucial for understanding its therapeutic potential and optimizing its clinical application.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify the chemical constituents of CSP and analyze their migration and distribution in vivo.
• To determine the pharmacodynamic material basis and elucidate the anti-tumor mechanism of CSP.
• To investigate the synergistic effects of stably distributed constituents in serum and target tissues.

Main Methods:

• Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) was used for chemical constituent identification and quantification.
• In vivo studies tracked the migration and distribution of CSP constituents in mouse serum and various tissues (stomach, esophagus, liver, lungs).
• Network pharmacology, including Venn diagram analysis, protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks, Gene Ontology (GO), and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis, was employed to explore anti-tumor mechanisms.

Main Results:

• A total of 3645 chemical constituents were identified in CSP. Following oral administration, 611 constituents were detected in mouse serum, with significant presence in stomach, esophagus, liver, and lungs.
• 95 constituents were found to be stably distributed across the original formulation, serum, and major tissues, suggesting their critical role in efficacy.
• Network pharmacology analysis identified 152 overlapping targets between CSP and cancer, highlighting hub genes (e.g., ALB, PTGS2, EGFR) and key pathways (e.g., PI3K-Akt, MAPK) involved in apoptosis, proliferation, and inflammation.

Conclusions:

• The study successfully identified numerous chemical constituents of CSP and mapped their in vivo distribution.
• The 95 stably distributed constituents are proposed as the primary pharmacodynamic material basis for CSP's anti-tumor and analgesic effects.
• CSP exerts its anti-tumor effects through a complex, multi-component, multi-target, and multi-pathway regulatory network, providing a scientific foundation for its use in cancer therapy.