Aristolochic acids (AAs) and aristololactams (ALs) are commonly found in some Aristolochiaceae plants, and they have been reported to be AA nephropathy (AAN), nephrotoxicity and carcinogenicity. In the present study, we established an ultra high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) coupled with quadrupole/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (Q/TOF-MS) method for the rapid analysis of eight AA analogues in 19 samples originated from the five Aristolochiaceae plants, the roots and rhizomes of Asarum sieboldii Miq. var. seoulense Nakai, the fruits of Aristolochia contorta Bunge or A. debilis Sieb. et Zucc., the roots of Aristolochia debilisSieb. et Zucc., the stems of Aristolochia manshuriensis Kom., and the roots of Aristolochia fangchi Y. C. Wu ex L. D. Chou et S. M. Hwang. A total of five AAs and three ALs were identified by co-chromatography of sample extract and comparing the retention time, UV spectra, and characteristic molecular ions and fragment ions with those of authentic standards, or tentatively identified by MS/MS determination along with Mass Fragment software. Moreover, the method was validated for the simultaneous quantification or semi-quantification of them. The samples significantly differed in the quality and quantity of AA analogues, which allowed the possibility of showing their chemical distinctness, and it might be helpful in their standardization and quality control. Furthermore, in order to holistically compare the difference between the five Aristolochiaceaeplants, dataset obtained from UHPLC-Q/TOF-MS was processed with principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least squared discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA).
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