Background Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F (TwHF), a traditional Chinese herb with immunosuppressive activity, has demonstrated clinical efficacy in the treatment of autoimmune diseases. However, the clinical application of TwHF has been greatly limited owing to its toxicity. Previously, we showed that the toxicity of TwHF can be reduced by liquorice processing, but the material basis for this reduced toxicity remains unclear. Methods Here, we hypothesized that liquorice processing affects the components of TwHF. And LC-IT-TOF/MS together with plant metabolomics was applied to analyse the chemical composition of raw TwHF (Raw), TwHF combined with liquorice (Com), and TwHF processed by liquorice (Pro). Results As a result, three differential compounds in TwHF, including triptolide, celastrol and wilforlide A, were tentatively identified. At the same time, we found that there were nine differential compounds from liquorice, including isoliquiritin, uralenin, coumestrol, liquiritigenin, schaftoside, glycyrrhizic acid, glyyunnanprosapogenin D, uralsaponin B and isolicoflavonol. Conclusion These results will provide a basis for the scientific and rational use of TwHF processed by liquorice in the clinic.
Rao et al. (Thu,) studied this question.