Short Lecture “Unravel the variation of metabolites of maidong medicine (Ophiopogon japonicus and Liriope spicata): A feature-based molecular network approach”

The tuberous roots of Ophiopogon japonicus and Liriope spicata have long been used as herbal medicine in China to treat respiratory ailments and are collectively referred to as maidong. They are rich in flavonoids and steroidal saponins. In the present study, we conducted a mass spectrometry-based metabolomic approach to obtain an overview on the metabolites of maidong derived from different origin. To enhance result interpretation, multivariate analyses are combined with molecular networking and in silico annotation to identify biomarkers. Results demonstrated an overview of the chemical class and type variation among maidong, highlighting homoisoflavans as characteristic metabolites of maidong derived from O. japonicus. Notably, our results confirmed several co-existing steroidal saponins (e.g., Ophiopogonin D, Ophiopognin B), whereas each species possesses unique steroidal glycosides. This approach contributes to the identification of new chemically related biomarker groups, and ultimately safeguards the efficacy and the safety use of maidong medicine ([Fig. 1]).

Fig. 1 Distribution of maidong medicine in China and LC-MS-based metabolomic molecular network.

Publication History

Article published online:
16 November 2023