Anoectochilus chapaensis Gagnep. （Orchidaceae） was named as the ＂king of medicine＂ because of its excellent efficacy for the treatment of diabetes. However, the bioactive constituents are unknown. An ethanol extract from A. chapaensis showed significant stimulating effect on glucose consumption in HepG2 cells. The chemical composition was investigated by UPLC-MS/MS in negative electrospray ionization （ESI） mode, and 63 compounds including flavonoids, triterpenoids, and aliphatic acids were tentatively identified by accurate mass and characteristic fragments. Moreover, the method of hypoglycemic screening with insulin resistant HepG2 cells and UPLC-MS/MS might be potentially useful in rapid and efficient characterization and primary prediction of natural products prior to traditional isolation.
Zingiber striolatum Diels （Zingiberaceae） is an edible plant resource in the Chinese folk with special efficacy in relieving diabetes and constipation, which has been documented in the Compendium ofMateria Medica. However, its hypoglycemic activity and constituents have not been reported yet. In the present study, we evaluated the hypoglycemic activity of Z. striolatum in insulin-resistant HepG2 cells, and we developed ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry （UPLC-MS/MS） based chemical profiling method for rapid analysis of Z. striolatum. As a result, the ethanol extract from Z. striolatum showed significant hypoglycemic activity in HepG2 cells, and 22 flavonoids compounds were tentatively characterized by comparing the retention time and mass spectrometry data. In conclusion, the method of hypoglycemic screening in insulin-resistant HepG2 cells coupled with UPLC-MS/MS is a feasible and credible technique to separate and identify the active constituents in complex matrices of traditional Chinese medicine.
