HPLC Fingerprint with Multi-components Analysis for Quality Consistency Evaluation of Traditional Chinese Medicine Si-Mo-Tang Oral Liquid Preparation

Si-Mo-Tang(SMT) oral liquid preparation, a traditional Chinese medicine, was prepared from four crude herbal drugs, Fructus Aurantii Submaturus, Radix Aucklandiae, Semen Arecae and Radix Linderae Aggregatae. A combinative method using HPLC fingerprint and quantitative analysis was developed and validated for quality consistency evaluation of SMT. Individual HPLC chromatograms were evaluated against the mean chromatogram generated via a similarity evaluation computer program. Data from chromatographic fingerprints were also processed with principal component analysis(PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis(HCA). Additionally, six components (naringin, isonaringin, hesperidin, neohesperidin, norisoboldine and potassium sorbate) in SMT were simultaneously determined to interpret the quality consistency. For fingerprint analysis, 20 peaks were selected as the characteristic peaks to evaluate the similarities of 26 SMT collected from different manufacturers. Among the 20 characteristic peaks, 10 peaks were assigned to be naringin, hesperidin, neohesperidin, isonaringin, neoeriocitrin, tangeretin, nobiletin, norisoboldine, 5-(ethoxymethyl)furan-2-carbaldehyde and potassium sorbate, respectively. The results of similarity analysis, PCA and HCA, indicate that the samples from different manufacturers were consistent with each other in composition. The results from the quantitative data show that the contents of six compounds were significantly different in SMT oral liquid preparations from different manufacturers. The combinative method of chromatographic fingerprint with quantitative analysis developed here offered an efficient way for the quality consistency evaluation of the traditional Chinese medicine SMT.     

Rapid separation and simultaneous quantitative determination of 13 constituents in Psoraleae Fructus by a single marker using high‐performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection

Psoraleae Fructus is one of the most popular traditional Chinese medicines. Coumarins, flavonoids, and meroterpenes are the main contributors to the biological activity of Psoraleae Fructus. In this study, a new method for the quality control of Psoraleae Fructus was developed, through the quantitative analysis of multicomponents by single marker with diode array detector. Thirteen components, including psoralenoside, isopsoralenoside, psoralen, isopsoralen, psoralidin, neobavaisoflavone, bavachin, corylin, isobavachalcone, corylifol A, bavachinin, bavachalcone, and bakuchiol were rapidly separated and identified within 12 min by the newly developed method. The feasibility and reliability of this method were corroborated. The method was also compared to the external standard method and detection by corona charged aerosol detector. The results of percent difference (%) and cos (θ) have shown that there were no significant differences observed between the quantitative analysis of multicomponents by single marker and external standard method analyses; psoralen and isopsoralen were undetectable with the corona charged aerosol detector due to their but the sensitivity for all the compounds except bakuchiol detected by corona charged aerosol detector are higher than those obtained by diode array detector. In addition, the newly method developed was applied to the quality evaluation of Chinese patent medicines containing Psoraleae Fructus.     

Quality assessment of Cinnamomi Ramulus by the simultaneous analysis of multiple active components using high‐performance thin‐layer chromatography and high‐performance liquid chromatography

A novel and improved method for the quality assessment of Cinnamomi Ramulus was developed and completely validated. The method was established using fingerprint technology and simultaneous quantitative determination of six main marker compounds including coumarin, cinnamic alcohol, cinnamic acid, 2‐methoxy cinnamic acid, cinnamaldehyde, and 2‐methoxy cinnamaldehyde in the herbal medicine for the first time. A newly developed high‐performance thin‐layer chromatography method, which achieved simultaneous definition of five marker components by comparing the colors and retardation factor values of the bands in high‐performance thin‐layer chromatography, was first used for the authentication of Cinnamomi Ramulus. The fingerprints of 26 batches of herbal samples from different regions of China showed very similar chromatographic patterns that were evaluated by similarity analysis and hierarchical clustering analysis. In addition, six marker compounds were simultaneously determined using single standard to determine multiple components by the relative response factors. Compared with the external standard method, the new quantitative method was validated to determine multiple compounds in 26 batches of Cinnamomi Ramulus samples. All results demonstrated that the simple and rapid method could be effectively utilized for the quality control of Cinnamomi Ramulus.     

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of Alpiniae Oxyphyllae Fructus by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry

Alpiniae Oxyphyllae Fructus, as a homology of medicine and food, has been widely used in China for thousands of years. However, the existing qualitative and quantitative methods are difficult to evaluate the quality of Alpiniae Oxyphyllae Fructus samples from multiple sources. In this paper, an high-performance liquid chromatography fingerprint was established for assessing the quality of Alpiniae Oxyphyllae Fructus from different areas. Then, high-performance liquid chromatography was coupled to Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry for characterization of the chemical compositions in Alpiniae Oxyphyllae Fructus. In fingerprint analysis, 54 common peaks were confirmed and six chromatographic peaks of them were identified. The similarity of 14 samples from different areas was between 0.990 and 1.000. Moreover, a total of 30 chemical components were characterized by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry method, six compounds of which were decisively identified. Finally, the content of nootkatone was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. In conclusion, the methods used in this study are efficient for qualitative and quantitative analysis of Alpiniae Oxyphyllae Fructus. Also, these methods can be used to control the quality of other traditional Chinese medicines.     

综合线性定量指纹法评价退热解毒注射液融合指纹图谱研究

该研究引入综合线性定性相似度S1、综合线性定量相似度P1％和指纹变异系数a3个参数建立了1种新颖的综合线性指纹图谱评价方法,从定性定量的角度全面评价了中药的整体质量.方法采用高效液相二极管阵列(HPLC/DAD)采集了退热解毒注射液样品在210、254、265、330、360 nm波长下的指纹图谱并进行数据融合,同时定...     

反相高效液相法测定枳实、枳壳中橙皮甙和柚皮甙的含量

 采用高效液相法测定了枳实和枳壳中的橙皮甙和柚皮甙含量。柱为HypersilODS1柱(250mm×4 6mmi d ),流动相为乙腈 0 5%乙酸溶液(体积比为22∶78),流速为1 0mL/min,检测波长为283nm。柚皮甙和橙皮甙的线性范围分别为0 060g/L～0 604g/L和0 0125g/L～0 125g/L,柚皮甙和橙皮甙的平均回收率分别为97 1%和95 3%。该方法具有操作简便、分析快速、准确等优点。     

Origin identification on the commercial samples of Aurantii Fructus

A total of 50 commercial samples of Aurantii Fructus, originating from Poncitrus trifoliata for Aurantii Fructus Immaturus, Citrus aurantium, and C. wilsonii for Aurantii Fructus Maturus, respectively, were collected from Taiwan and China herbal markets. Contents of the constituents in the samples were determined within 60 min using a developed HPLC method, which had been validated in terms of precision, repeatability, and accuracy. The results of the analyses showed that the constituents were closely related to the species and also the degree of maturity of the fruits, especially in the case of hesperidin (HE), naringin (NG), neohesperidin (NE), naringenin-7-glucoside (NGC), narirutin (NR), and quercetin (QU). The mature fruits (C. aurantium and C. wilsonii) contained chiefly NG, HE, and NE and the immature ones (P. trifoliata) had NG, NR, and QU majorly. Within the mature samples, the ratios of HE/NE and NGC/NE values were higher than 2.94 and 0.21 in C. aurantium and lower than 1.31 and 0.02 in C. wilsonii, respectively. A flowchart that is useful for identifying Aurantii Fractus was devised, based on the various chemical identification methods.     

Quantification of Chemical Groups and Quantitative HPLC Fingerprint of Poria cocos (Schw.) Wolf

(1)Objective: In this study, a quantitative analysis of chemical groups (the triterpenoids, water-soluble polysaccharides, and acidic polysaccharides) and quantitative high liquid performance chromatography (HPLC) fingerprint of Poria cocos (Schw.) Wolf (PC) for quality control was developed. (2) Methodology: First, three main chemical groups, including triterpenoids, water-soluble polysaccharides, and acidic polysaccharides, in 16 batches of PC were evaluated by ultraviolet spectrophotometry. Afterward, the quantitative fingerprint of PC was established, and the alcohol extract of PC was further evaluated. The method involves establishing 16 batches of PC fingerprints by HPLC, evaluating the similarity of different batches of PC, and identifying eight bioactive components, including poricoic acid B (PAB), dehydrotumulosic acid (DTA), poricoic acid A (PAA), polyporenic acid C (PAC), 3-epidehydrotumulosic acid (EA), dehydropachymic acid (DPA), dehydrotrametenolic acid (DTA-1), and dehydroeburicoic acid (DEA), in PC by comparison with the reference substance. Combined with the quantitative analysis of multi-components by a single marker (QAMS), six bioactive ingredients, including PAB, DTA, PAC, EA, DPA, and DEA, in PC from different places were established. In addition, the multivariate statistical analyses, such as principal component analysis and heatmap hierarchical clustering analysis are more intuitive, and the visual analysis strategy was used to evaluate the content of bioactive components in 16 batches of PC. Finally, the analysis strategy of three main chemical groups in PC was combined with the quantitative fingerprint strategy, which reduced the error caused by the single method. (3) Results: The establishment of a method for the quantification of chemical groups and quantitative HPLC fingerprint of PC was achieved as demonstrated through the quantification of six triterpenes in PC by a single marker. (4) Conclusions: Through qualitative and quantitative chemical characterization, a multi-directional, simple and efficient routine evaluation method of PC quality was established. The results reveal that this strategy can provide an analytical method for the quality evaluation of PC and other Chinese medicinal materials.     

Qualitative analysis of Psoraleae Fructus by HPLC‐DAD/TOF‐MS fingerprint and quantitative analysis of multiple components by single marker

A variety of bioactive substances may account for the recognized efficacy and wide clinical application of Psoraleae Fructus in China. A high‐performance liquid chromatography–diode array detector (HPLC‐DAD) fingerprint method was developed to present the comprehensive phytochemical profile of the crude drug. Thirteen major compounds were separated and identified by HPLC coupled with time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (HPLC/TOF‐MS), namely psoralenoside (PO), isopsoralenoside (IPO), psoralen (PS), isopsoralen (IPS), neobavaisoflavone (NBF), bavachin (BC), corylin (CN), bavachromene (BCM), psoralidin (PD), isobavachalcone (IBC), bacachinin (BCN), corylifol A (CA) and bakuchiol (BK). Then quantitative analysis of multiple components by single marker (QAMS) was applied in content determination of PO, IPO, PS, IPS, BC, IBC, BCN, CA and BK, with NBF as the internal standard. The calculation results indicated no significant difference from the traditional external standard method (p > 0.05, RSD < 2.62%), suggesting that QAMS is a reliable and convenient method for content determination of multiple chemical compositions, especially when there is a shortage of reference substances. In conclusion, simultaneous qualitative and quantitative analysis of Psoraleae Fructus may be fulfilled through the newly proposed method of QAMS combined with HPLC‐DAD/TOF‐MS fingerprint.     

Quantitative studies of rhubarb using quantitative analysis of multicomponents by single marker and response surface methodology

In this work, we developed a novel approach to evaluate the contents of bioactive components in rhubarb. The present method was based on the quantitative analysis of multicomponents by a single‐marker and response surface methodology approaches. The quantitative analysis of multicomponents by a single‐marker method based on high‐performance liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array detection was developed and applied to determine the contents of 12 bioactive components in rhubarb. No significant differences were found in the results from the quantitative analysis of multicomponents by a single‐marker and the external standard method. In order to maximize the extraction of 12 bioactive compounds in rhubarb, the ultrasonic‐assisted extraction conditions were obtained by the response surface methodology coupled with Box–Behnken design. According to the obtained results, we showed that the optimal conditions would be as follows: proportion of ethanol/water 74.39%, solvent‐to‐solid ratio 24.07:1 v/w, extraction time 51.13 min, and extraction temperature 63.61°C. The analytical scheme established in this research should be a reliable, convenient, and appropriate method for quantitative determination of bioactive compounds in rhubarb.     

Ultra high performance liquid chromatography with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry combined with chemometric analysis as an approach for the quality evaluation of Mume Fructus

Mume Fructus is an important traditional Chinese medicine that has been widely used in the treatment of intestinal diseases and asthma for thousands of years. In order to evaluate the quality of Mume Fructus in different processing methods, the main chemical components in Mume Fructus were investigated and a method was established for simultaneous quantification of organic acids of Mume Fructus. First, an optimized ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight tandem-mass spectrometry method was used to identify the structures of main components in Mume Fructus. A total of 41 chemical compounds were identified, including 11 organic acids, 13 flavonoids, and three fatty acids. The contents of 11 organic acids in 18 batches of Mume Fructus from different processing methods were simultaneously determined by a liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry method. The results of quantitative and hierarchical cluster analysis indicated that Mume Fructus under different processing methods were rich in the above 11 organic acids and the contents were obviously different. Taken together, the proposed quality evaluation method was fast and comprehensively reflects the content of the main chemical components in Mume Fructus under different processing methods, and provides a useful reference for the quality control and evaluation of Mume Fructus.     

Multiple compounds determination and fingerprint analysis of Lidanpaishi tablet and keli by high-performance liquid chromatography

The objective of this paper was to establish an efficient method for quality control of Lidanpaishi (LDPS) tablet and keli, two famous traditional Chinese medicines. A simple and reliable high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with photodiode array detector (DAD) method was developed both for fingerprint analysis (FA) and quantitative determination. In quantitative analysis, linear regressions, limit of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ), intra-day and inter-day precisions, recovery, repeatability and stability were all tested and good results were obtained to simultaneously determine the 15 marker compounds, namely chlorogenic acid, rhaponticin, 6,7-dimethoxycoumarin, naringin, hesperidin, neohesperidin, baicalin, wogonoside, baicalein, wogonin, chrysin, honokiol, magnolol, emodin, and chrysophanol in the herbal drugs. In fingerprint analysis, 34 peaks were selected as the characteristic peaks to evaluate the similarities of different samples collected from different pharmaceutical companies in China according to the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) requirements, and two kinds of data, relative retention time (RRT) and relative peak area (RPA) were used to identify the common peaks in 15 samples for investigation. Furthermore, hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) was also performed to evaluate the variation of the herbal drugs. The present approach, i.e. HPLC coupled with multiple compounds determination (MCD) and FA is a powerful and meaningful tool to comprehensively conduct the quality control of traditional Chinese medicines.     

Quality evaluation of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge. by ultra high performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection and chemical fingerprinting coupled with chemometric analysis

An ultra high performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection method is developed for the simultaneous quantitative determination of five water‐soluble compounds including danshensu, protocatechualdehyde, rosmarinic acid, salvianolic acid B, and salvianolic acid A in Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge. samples. Through method optimization, the five compounds all expressed good linearity (R² > 0.9990) in a wide concentration range together with satisfactory accuracy, precision, and stability. Moreover, through qualitative analysis of the chemical fingerprint combined with similarity analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis, principle component analysis, and partial least‐squares discriminate analysis, we determined that the 13 batches of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge. were similar in internal quality and the differences resulted from various cultivation environments, recovery elements, and others. Seen from the results of hierarchical cluster analysis and principle component analysis, the classification of 13 batches was in accordance, and partial least‐squares discriminate analysis technique was more suitable than the principle component analysis model to provide a distinct classification of test samples on the basis of their different components. Moreover, a permutation test verified the rationality of partial least‐squares discriminate analysis and variable importance plot showed that peaks 37 and 38 were the most significant variables in distinguishing the Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge. samples. The idea of the quantitative and qualitative analysis of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge. was convenient, sensitive, and comprehensive, which could be applied to evaluate the quality of more traditional Chinese medicines.     

Quality assessment of raw and processed Arctium lappa L. through multicomponent quantification,chromatographic fingerprint,and related chemometric analysis

In traditional Chinese medicine, raw and processed herbs are used to treat different diseases. Suitable quality assessment methods are crucial for the discrimination between raw and processed herbs. The dried fruit of Arctium lappa L. and their processed products are widely used in traditional Chinese medicine, yet their therapeutic effects are different. In this study, a novel strategy using high‐performance liquid chromatography and diode array detection coupled with multivariate statistical analysis to rapidly explore raw and processed Arctium lappa L. was proposed and validated. Four main components in a total of 30 batches of raw and processed Fructus Arctii samples were analyzed, and ten characteristic peaks were identified in the fingerprint common pattern. Furthermore, similarity evaluation, principal component analysis, and hierachical cluster analysis were applied to demonstrate the distinction. The results suggested that the relative amounts of the chemical components of raw and processed Fructus Arctii samples are different. This new method has been successfully applied to detect the raw and processed Fructus Arctii in marketed herbal medicinal products.     

基于牛舌草指纹图谱的多指标成分相对定量与鉴别方法

色谱指纹图谱法在中草药产地鉴别或中成药鉴别中发挥着重要作用,然而色谱峰强度和位置易受目标物提取和分离条件的影响,发展更加准确的指纹图谱具有重要意义。该文以色谱峰中某一个常见组分（芦丁）作为内标,分析其他组分的相对含量,以相对含量作为指纹图谱信息,结合化学模式识别可以精确给出产地的相似度。以牛舌草的液相色谱指纹图谱指纹峰为例,以其中芦丁的组分峰作为基准峰,其他指纹峰以芦丁为参照,计算每个指纹峰以芦丁计的含量,建立了牛舌草的指纹图谱。将获得的相对含量指纹图谱采用系统聚类分析和主成分分析进行化学模式识别研究,实现了不同产地牛舌草的区分。该方法建立了牛舌草多指标成分的相对定量与鉴别方法,既节省资源,又具有可操作性,对于其他中药或中成药的质量控制具有一定的借鉴意义。     

Evaluation and discrimination of cortex Magnoliae officinalis produced in Zhejiang Province (Wen-Hou-Po) by UPLC-DAD-TOF-MS fingerprint

An ultra performance liquid chromatography tandem TOF mass spectrometric (UPLC-DAD-TOF-MS) fingerprinting method was developed for the quality control and source discrimination of Cortex magnoliae officinalis produced in Zhejiang Province (Wen-Hou-Po). Twelve samples of Wen-Hou-Po collected from two species in five areas in Zhejiang Province of China were used to establish the fingerprint. Data were evaluated statistically using similarity analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and discriminant analysis (DA) in order to establish a similarity standard of fingerprint for quality control of Wen-Hou-Po, then to classify the Wen-Hou-Po samples and to identify key categorizing parameters. The similarity indexes were all above 0.95 between the reference chromatogram and that of each sample. By comparing the UV and MS data with those of the authentic standards and literature, nine main peaks in the fingerprints were identified. The result of hierarchical cluster analysis showed that the samples from two species in five areas could be divided into two distinct groups (the same as the groups of the samples divided by their species) based on their compositional fingerprints. A rapid and convenient discriminant function was then established to discriminate the species of unknown Wen-Hou-Po, and the cross validation result was 100%. In this study, the methods established are reliable, and could be used to evaluate the quality and to identify the species of Wen-Hou-Po in the future.     

Assessment of quality consistency in traditional Chinese medicine using multi‐wavelength fusion profiling by integrated quantitative fingerprint method: Niuhuang Jiedu pill as an example

Under the wave of the revival of traditional Chinese medicine, there is a quite imperative duty to study an integrated and comprehensive method of fingerprint data processing and analysis on the quality consistency of traditional Chinese medicine. So, we proposed six parameters from two aspects (qualitative and quantitative), three levels (biased to strong peaks, biased to weak peaks, no obvious bias), to comprehensively evaluate the similarity of the two fingerprints. On this basis, another five parameters were proposed to evaluate the integrated effects (consistency, volatility, and similarity). This method was applied to 22 batches of Niuhuang Jiedu pill samples. Next, a practical and convenient multi‐wavelength fusion method was designed to provide more information, and the generated fusion profilings were used for subsequent evaluation. The characteristics of the parameters were confirmed by correlation analysis. The results of both hierarchical clustering analysis and principal component analysis for raw data and standardized data were consistent with integrated quantitative fingerprint method results. At the same time, this method gave a reasonable explanation for abnormal and dissimilar samples. This work illustrated that the proposed method was particularly suitable for similarity analysis of fingerprints and capable of ensuring the quality consistency in traditional Chinese medicine.     

Application of an efficient strategy based on MAE,HPLC‐DAD‐MS/MS and HSCCC for the rapid extraction,identification, separation and purification of flavonoids from Fructus Aurantii Immaturus

This study presents an efficient strategy based on microwave‐assisted extraction (MAE), HPLC‐DAD‐MS/MS and high‐speed counter‐current chromatography (HSCCC) for the rapid extraction, identification, separation and purification of active components from the traditional Chinese medicine Fructus Aurantii Immaturus. An LC‐DAD‐MS/MS method was applied for the screening and structural identification of main components in crude extract, and five components were preliminarily identified as neoeriocitrin, narirutin, naringin, hesperidin and neohesperidin according to their UV and mass spectra. An efficient MAE method for the extraction of the three most abundant components (narirutin, naringin and neohesperidin) was optimized by the combination of univariate and multivariate approaches. The crude extract was then separated and purified by HSCCC and a total of 61.6 mg of narirutin, 207.3 mg of naringin and 159.5 mg of neohesperidin at high purities of 98.1, 97.2 and 99.5%, respectively, were obtained from 1.42 g of crude extract. The recoveries of these compounds were 86, 93 and 89%, respectively. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Capillary electrophoresis fingerprinting coupled with chemometrics to evaluate the quality consistency and predict the antioxidant activity of Sanhuang tablet as part of its quality control

A capillary electrophoresis fingerprint was constructed for Sanhuang tablet, a Chinese traditional patent medicine, that was commonly used in clinical practice, where the isosceles trapezoid method was first applied for the optimization of background electrolyte solution, and the resolution index was performed to assess the experimental conditions; furthermore, a novel linear quantitative fingerprint method was established for accurate qualitative and quantitative discrimination of the test samples from diverse commercial brands. The fingerprint analysis coupled with quantitative determination of two components was employed to elucidate that the quality consistency of the products was relatively good within one manufactory, but poor among different companies for the 30 batches of samples. In addition, the fingerprint–efficacy relationship between chemical components and antioxidant activity in vitro was investigated using partial least squares analysis, and the calibration and prediction of the antioxidant activity of the selected samples via fingerprint data were presented with the desired results. This work illustrates that the proposed fingerprint analysis based on linear quantitative fingerprint method can be applied for the quality evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine and herbal preparations as part of their quality control, and the constructed mathematical model is particularly suitable for depicting the fingerprint–efficacy relationship.     

Quality evaluation of moluodan concentrated pill using high‐performance liquid chromatography fingerprinting coupled with chemometrics

In this study, a fast and effective high‐performance liquid chromatography method was developed to obtain a fingerprint chromatogram and quantitative analysis simultaneously of four indexes including gallic acid, chlorogenic acid, albiflorin and paeoniflorin of the traditional Chinese medicine Moluodan Concentrated Pill. The method was performed by using a Waters X‐bridge C₁₈ reversed phase column on an Agilent 1200S high‐performance liquid chromatography system coupled with diode array detection. The mobile phase of the high‐performance liquid chromatography method was composed of 20 mmol/L phosphate solution and acetonitrile with a 1 mL/min eluent velocity, under a detection temperature of 30°C and a UV detection wavelength of 254 nm. After the methodology validation, 16 batches of Moluodan Concentrated Pill were analyzed by this high‐performance liquid chromatography method and both qualitative and quantitative evaluation results were achieved by similarity analysis, principal component analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis. The results of these three chemometrics were in good agreement and all indicated that batch 10 and batch 16 showed significant differences with the other 14 batches. This suggested that the developed high‐performance liquid chromatography method could be applied in the quality evaluation of Moluodan Concentrated Pill.