ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To establish a method for rapid screening and quantification of 24 anti-inflammatory painkillers illegally added in traditional Chinese medicines and health foods by UPLC-quadrupole/electrostaticfield orbitrap high resolution mass spectrometry. METHODS: The separation was performed on a Thermo Acquity UPLC system with a Hypersil Gold C18 column with gradient elution of acetonitrile and 20 mmol · L-1 ammonium acetate solution. Electrospray ionization of positive and negative ions and one and two high precision full scan were used for the MS detection. The qualitative and quantitative analyses were carried out by accurate and precise parent ion mass and product ion mass information. RESULTS: The limits of detection (S/N ≥ 3) were 10.0-45.0 μg · kg-1. The average recoveries were 79.6%-98.3%. Thirty positive samples were detected among a total of 45 samples, resulting a positive rate of 66.7%. The detected components were paracetamol, diclofenac sodium, indometacin, and ibuprofen. CONCLUSION: The method is simple, highly accurate, sensitive and selective, and can be used in rapid screening and quantitative analysis of illegally added anti-inflammatory painkillers in traditional Chinese medicines and health foods.