A novel method HPLC-DAD analysis of the Contentsof Moutan Cortexand Paeoniae Radix Alba with similar constituents-monoterpene glycosides in Guizhi Fuling Wan.

Shuyun Wang,Yuliang Wang,Jinhui Wang,Wei Xiao,Rena Kasimu,Huijuan Mao,Jian Huang

doi:10.3390/molecules191117957

Abstract

A variety of traditional Chinese medical formulations contain two or more herbs from the same genus or family. Although these herbs may have a similar appearance and constituents, they usually have different pharmacodynamic actions. A series of qualitative and quantitative analysis methods are developed to determine one or more compounds for quality control of medicine. As far as we know, no method has been found to determine the real ratio of the two herbs along with the prescription. In this study, we used HPLC-DAD as a way to determine the content of Moutan cortex (M) and Paeoniae radix alba (P) in GuizhiFuling Wan (GZFLW). An effective, accurate and reliable HPLC-DAD method was developed for detecting the content of M and P in GZFLW through the analysis of four monoterpeneglycosides, namely, galloylpaeoniflorin (1), paeoniflorin (2), mudanpioside C (3) and benzoylpaeoniflorin (4). Due to the different UV characteristics of the compounds, the detection wavelength was 270 nm for 1 and 2, while 3 and 4 were monitored at 254 nm and 230 nm, respectively. Four equations were put forward to describe the relationship between content of M as well as P and the four monoterpene glycosides in GZFLW. After validation, all the accuracies of the M and P contents in GZFLW were within 10%. The result showed that the method could be successfully applied to analyze the contents of M and P in GZFLW. Moreover, our method may be more widely used to control the quality of proprietary Chinese medicines, especially for those containing the same genus or family herbs, in industrial GMP production.

Highlights

Traditional Chinese medicines, playing an irreplaceable role in the health of people, have attracted more and more attention around the world
The Soxhlet extraction with methanol for 3 h was selected as the optimum method
All relative errors (RE) of the weight of M and P in GuizhiFuling Wan (GZFLW) were within 10%

Summary

Introduction

Traditional Chinese medicines, playing an irreplaceable role in the health of people, have attracted more and more attention around the world. Some traditional Chinese medical formulations contain two herbs from the same family, such as Moutan cortex (M) and Paeoniae radix alba (P) in GuizhiFuling. Almost all the quality of traditional Chinese medical formulations is controlled through major or active constituents [2,3,4,5]. The methods for detecting quality are sensitive and available when the formulation has no common components in any of the constituent herbs, but how to determine the real ratio of the two herbs along with the prescription remains a difficult question. Effective and comprehensive analytical methods have to be developed, controlling the ratio of the each herb to agree with the prescription. An available and accurate method, high performance liquid chromatography method with photodiode array detector (HPLC-DAD), was applied for detecting the contents of M and P in GZFLW

Methods

Results

Conclusion