ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish an HPLC-DAD/ESI-MS method for quickly identifying chemical constituents in diterpene lactone effective fraction of Andrographis panniculata and to study its pharmacodynamics.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The separation was performed on an Agilent SB-C18 column (2.1 mm x 150 mm, 5 μm) with a mobile phase of acetonitrile (A) and water (B). The flow rate was maintained at 0.4 mL x min(-1) and detection wavelength was set at 205 nm. The samples were analyzed in positive ion mode, and mass scan range was m/z 50-1 000. Using two kinds of tumor cell lines made living animal models, and studied preliminary pharmacodynamics on anti-tumor aspect.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Five diterpene lactones in the diterpene lactone effective fraction of A. panniculata could be separated in one run. Pharmacodynamic experiments showed that the effectve fraction had an inhibitory effect on the growth of tumor.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>A rapid and efficient HPLC-ESI-MS method to determine the chemical constituents in diterpene lactone effective fraction of A. panniculata has been established, and the preliminary pharmacodynamics research has been done, which could be used for the quality control and further studies of diterpene lactone effective fraction of A. panniculata in vivo.</p>