Rapid determination of aristolochic acid I and II in medicinal plants with high sensitivity by cucurbit[7]uril-modifier capillary zone electrophoresis

Aristolochic acids (AAs) are commonly found in medicinal plants such as Radix aristolochiae and have been reported to cause acute hepatitis and end-stage renal failure. Hence, quantitative analysis and quality control for the plants containing AAs is of great importance. In this study, a novel macrocylcic molecule, cucurbit[7]uril (CB[7]) was employed as a modifier in capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) for rapid determination of aristolochic acid I and II in medicinal plants. In similarity to other macrocyclic molecules, such as cyclodextrins (CDs), CB[7] can be used to manipulate selectivity in CE because it can form inclusion complexes with a variety of guest molecules. During the running process, CB[7] bears a positive charge in the pH range of 2.5–7.5 and can be adsorbed onto the inner wall of a fused-capillary, leading to a reversal of the electroosmotic flow (EOF). By applying a negative polarity, a rapid separation of AA-I and AA-II was achieved within 7 min using 100 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.5) containing 3 mM CB[7] and 10% acetonitrile (v/v) as modifiers, due to the same directions of the EOF and the electrophoretic mobilities of the analytes. By applying electrokinetic injection with field-enhanced sample stacking, two kinds of aristolochic acids in four medicinal plants were successfully determined with high sensitivity, high separation efficiency, repeatability and recovery. The proposed method was also used to determine AA-I and AA-II in two slimming pills with complex matrix.