Fingerprint study of Wuji Pill by UPLC-MS/MS / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Objective: To establish and study the UPLC-MS/MS fingerprint, to ascertain the medicinal source of chromatographic peaks, and to identify the chemical constituents for providing scientific basis in effective substance foundation and quality control of Wuji Pill. Methods: The fingerprint of Wuji Pill was developed with ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC), and the Acquity UPLC BEH C18 column (100 mm×2.1 mm, 1.7 μm) was used in the gradient elution with a mobile phase of acetonitrile-water (0.05% formic acid) The flow rate was 0.4 mL/min, the column temperature was 40℃. Similarity evaluation was used to evaluate the quality of herbs from different areas. Results: The fingerprint of Wuji Pill was established with good precision, reproducibility, and stability obtaining within 55 min, and 38 peaks in the fingerprint were designed. Twenty samples could be classified into two clusters. According to the reference, and qualitative and references identified a total of nine peaks were berberine, palmatine, jatrorrhizine, coptisine, epiberberine, evodiamine, rutaecarpine, evodine, and paeoniflorin inferred that the four common peaks were magnolia base magnoflorine, albiflorin, theophylline, and methyl-2-nonyl-4(1H)-quinolone. Conclusion: The establishment of UPLC fingerprint of Wuji Pill and application of chemical pattern recognition can provide a more comprehensive reference for the quality control of herbs.