Simultaneous determination of 35 constituents and elucidation of effective constituents in a multi-herb Chinese medicine formula Xiaoer-Feire-Kechuan

Zhanpeng Shang; Lulu Xu; Yi Kuang; Yan Lin; Shuang Liu; Long Sun; Tao Bo; Min Ye; Xue Qiao

doi:10.1016/j.jpha.2021.01.003

Simultaneous determination of 35 constituents and elucidation of effective constituents in a multi-herb Chinese medicine formula Xiaoer-Feire-Kechuan

J Pharm Anal. 2021 Dec;11(6):717-725. doi: 10.1016/j.jpha.2021.01.003. Epub 2021 Jan 29.

Authors

Zhanpeng Shang¹, Lulu Xu¹, Yi Kuang¹, Yan Lin², Shuang Liu¹, Long Sun³, Tao Bo³, Min Ye¹, Xue Qiao¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China.
² School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guizhou Medical University, Guizhou, 550025, China.
³ Thermo Fisher Scientific, Beijing, 100102, China.

Abstract

Xiaoer-Feire-Kechuan (XFK) is an 11-herb Chinese medicine formula to treat cough and pulmonary inflammation. The complicated composition rendered its chemical analysis and effective-component elucidation. In this study, we combined quantitative analysis and bioactivity test to reveal the anti-inflammatory constituents of XFK. First, UPLC-DAD and UHPLC/Q-Orbitrap-MS methods were established and validated to quantify 35 analytes (covering 9 out of 11 herbs) in different XFK formulations. Parallel reaction monitoring mode built in Q-Orbitrap-MS was used to improve the sensitivity and selectivity. Then, anti-inflammatory activities of the 35 analytes were analyzed using in vitro COX-2 inhibition assay. Finally, major analytes forsythosides H, I, A (8-10), and baicalin (15) (total contents varied from 21.79 to 91.20 mg/dose in different formulations) with significant activities (inhibitory rate ≥ 80%) were proposed as the anti-inflammatory constituents of XFK. The present study provided an effective strategy to discover effective constituents of multi-herb formulas.

Keywords: Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2); Effective constituents; Multi-herb formulas; Parallel reaction monitoring (PRM); Xiaoer-Feire-Kechuan formula (XFK).