Chemical constituent changes of Aconiti Cocta Radix before and after combination with Trichosanthes Fructus in different ratios by RRLC-QTOF/MS / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Objective: To analyze the chemical constituent changes of Aconiti Cocta Radix (ACR) before and after combination with Trichosanthes Fructus (TF) in different ratios and to provide the material bases for the incombination. Methods: The rapid resolution liquid chromatography with quadrupole and time-of-flight mass spectrometry (RRLC-QTOF/MS) was used to analyze the extract solution from ACR and TF combination. The chromatographic separation was achieved on an Agilent Zorbax Eclipse Plus C18 column (100 mm × 2.1 mm, 1.8 μm) with 0.1% formic acid water solution-0.1% formic acid in acetonitrile solution as mobile phase for gradient elution. Mass Hunter Workstation and partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) were utilized for the identification of components and chemical biomarkers. Peak-area ratio of the analyte/internal standard was used to represent the contents of the variance analysis. The amounts of chemical markers were indicated by the ratio of compound and internal standard peak area. Results: By an overall analysis of RRLC-QTOF/MS, a total of 65 compounds were detected in the extracts from ACR in combination with TF, including 57 compounds with confirmed structures and 15 compounds with significant differences before and after combination, and the relative dissolution rates were affected by the changes of the combination ratios. Conclusion: The sensitive and accurate RRLC-QTOF/MS method could fully reflect the chemical constituent changes of ACR before and after combination with TF. On the basis of in vitro chemical constituent and contents, it is still unclear whether the combination of ACR and TF should be prohibited, which requires further in vivo investigation.