GC–MS based metabolomics study of stems and roots of Ephedra sinica

• Stems and roots of Ephedra sinica (ES) are herbal medicines with different therapeutic effects.
• Stems and roots of ES were compared by derivatization-based GC–MS metabolomics.
• Fourteen primary and five secondary metabolites were selected as differential chemical markers.
• Stems of ES contained much higher levels of pharmacologically important ephedrine alkaloids.

Therapeutic effects of herbal medicines differ greatly due to the use of different anatomical parts or processing methods in traditional Chinese medicine, and Ephedra sinica (ES) is just a case in point. To better understand different traditional uses of the stems (known as Mahuang, MH) and roots (known as Mahuanggen, MHG) of ES, their therapeutic material basis should be investigated. In this study, ephedrine alkaloids were profiled simultaneously with primary metabolites using GC–MS based metabolomics. Ephedrine (E) has been reported to be the major bioactive constituent in MH for the treatment of asthma. The results showed that compared with MH, MHG contained much lower levels of five ephedrine alkaloids, which may well explain that MHG has not been used as an antiasthmatic. Additionally, these pharmacologically important ephedrine alkaloids exhibited strong positive correlation with five primary metabolites. In conclusion, this study facilitates better understanding of different traditional uses of MH and MHG.

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