A Strategy for Quality Control of Vespa magnifica (Smith) Venom Based on HPLC Fingerprint Analysis and Multi-Component Separation Combined with Quantitative Analysis

As a folk medicine of the Jingpo minority in Yunnan province, the venom of Vespa magnifica has been commonly used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Quality standardization of the wasp venom is a necessary step for its pharmaceutical research and development. To control the quality of the wasp venom, a method based on high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was developed for chemical fingerprint analysis. In the chromatographic fingerprinting, chemometrics procedures, including similarity analysis (SA), hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA), and principal component analysis (PCA), were applied to classify 134 batches (S1–S134) of wasp venom from different origins. The HPLC fingerprint method displayed good precision (Relative standard deviation, RSD < 0.27%), stability (in 16 h, RSD < 0.34%), and repeatability (RSD < 1.00%). Simultaneously, four compounds (VMS1, VMS2, VMS3, and VMS4) in the wasp venom were purified and identified. VMS1 was 5-hydroxytryptamine, and the other compounds were three peptides that were sequenced as follows: Gly–Arg–Pro–Hyp–Gly–Phe–Ser–Pro–Phe–Arg–Ile–Asp–NH(2) (VMS2), Ile–Asn–Leu–Lys–Ala–Ile–Ala–Ala–Leu–Ala–Lys–Lys–Leu–Leu–NH(2) (VMS3), and Phe–Leu–Pro–Ile–Ile–Gly–Lys–Leu–Leu–Ser–Gly–Leu–Leu–NH(2) (VMS4). The quantifications for these components were 110.2 mg/g, 26.9 mg/g, 216.3 mg/g, and 58.0 mg/g, respectively. The results of this work indicated that the combination of the chemical fingerprint and quantitative analysis offers a reasonable way to evaluate the quality of wasp venom.