Determination of 32 kinds of inorganic elements in Qingxue Bawei Tablets by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry with microwave digestion / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Objective: To establish an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) with microwave digestion method for the determination of 32 kinds of inorganic elements in Qingxue Bawei Tablets (QBT), including Be, B, Na, Mg, Al, P, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, As, Se, Rb, Sr, Mo, Ag, Cd, Sn, Sb, Cs, Ba, Hg, Tl, and Pb, in order to establish the fingerprint chromatogram of inorganic elements and analyze characteristic elements. Methods: The samples with nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide system as digestion reagents were digested via microwave, calibrated by internal standard elements, such as 6Li, Sc, Y, Rh, In, Ho, Bi, and Th. The contents of 32 inorganic elements were analyzed by ICP-MS. The content distribution curve of inorganic elements was plotted. And the principal components were analyzed with the SPSS 19.0 software. Results: The 32 inorganic elements showed good linearity in the selected concentration ranges, with the correlation coefficients over 0.999 5. The detection limits of the 32 elements were in the range of 0.001-6.390 μg/L. The RSD values of precision, stability, and repeatability all met the demands of quantitative analysis. The recovery was 94.36%-105.47%, while their RSD was 1.53%-4.56%. The fingerprint chromatogram was established by the content distribution curve of inorganic elements. Different batches of samples were similar peak shape, and the amount of inorganic elements content in different order tend to be consistent. The results of principal component analysis showed that Co, As, Ba, Ca, Sb, Ti, Ni, Fe, Cs, Se, P, Al, and K might be the characteristic elements in QBT. The content of five heavy metals (Pb, Cd, As, Hg, and Cu) was under the limit requirements of Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2015). Conclusion: The method is simple, rapid, and accurate, and it can be used for the content determination of inorganic elements in QBT. The analysis of inorganic elements can provide certain reference for the quality control, safety evaluation, and clinical application of QBT.