RESEARCH ARTICLE Quantitative Assessment of the Influence of Rhizoma Zingiberis on the Level of Aconitine in Rat Gut Sacs and Qualitative Analysis of the Major Influencing Components of

This study attempted to clarify the material basis for the detoxification of Rhizoma Zingiberis (RZ) on aconitine, an analgesic drug, by quantitatively assessing the influence of RZ on the in vitro intestinal concentration of aconitine using an everted gut sac model and by qualita-tively identifying the components in the RZ extract. To quantify aconitine in rat everted gut sacs, both an accurate processing method and a sensitive detection method were required. We developed a three-step sample processing method to protect the components from de-composition and applied ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quad-rupole mass spectrometry (UPLC/TQMS) to quantify aconitine, glucose and digoxin. In addition, ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with linear ion trap mass spec-trometry (UPLC/ITMS) was applied to detect the potential antidotal components in the RZ extract. Finally, the RZ extract reduced the level of aconitine in everted gut sacs, and eleven gingerols were successfully identified, which could be considered potential antidotal compo-nents for aconitine. This study demonstrated the application of two UPLC/MS methods for analyzing the material basis for the reciprocity between Chinese medicine components in everted gut sacs