Introduction: Nerium oleander is an eminent source of structurally diverse cardiac glycosides (CGs), plays a prominent role in the treatment of heart failure, and inhibits the proliferation of cancer cell lines. CGs exert their cardiotonic action by binding to the extracellularly exposed recognition sites on Na+ /K+ -ATPase, an integral membrane protein that establishes the electrochemical gradient of Na+ and K+ ions across the plasma membrane.
Objective: We aimed to quantitatively determine CGs and their seasonal variation in leaf and stem samples of N. oleander utilizing UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS techniques.
Methods: The UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS analytical method was developed utilizing multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. The Waters BEH C18 (150 mm × 2.1 mm, 1.7 μm) column was used with a 22-min linear gradient consisting of acetonitrile and 5 mM ammonium acetate buffer.
Results: In total 21 CGs were quantitatively determined in the seasonal leaf and stem samples of N. oleander along with the absolute quantitation of the three chemical markers odoroside H (244.8 μg/g), odoroside A (231.4 μg/g), and oleandrin (703.9 μg/g). The season-specific accumulation of chemical markers was observed in the order of predominance odoroside A (summer season, stem), odoroside H (winter season, stem), and oleandrin (rainy season, leaf). Besides this, the remaining 18 CGs were relatively quantified in the same samples.
Conclusion: The developed method is simple and reliable and can be used for the identification and quantification of multiple CGs in N. oleander.
Keywords: cardiac glycosides; odoroside A; odoroside H; oleandrin; quantitative analysis.
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