Qualitative and quantitative analysis of multi-components in Xing-Su-Ning Capsules for quality improvement

Abstract

Xin-Su-Ning Capsules (XSNC) is an effective prescription for the treatment of arrhythmia composed of eleven Chinese herbs. With the wide application of XSNC in clinic, its quality control issues have also received increasing attention. Based on the multi-components characteristics of Chinese herbal compound, there is an urgent need to establish a quality evaluation system. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and ultra high-performance liquid chromatography quadrupole electrostatic orbitrap high resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-Exactive-Orbitrap-MS) were performed to identify the preliminary chemical profile of XSNC. Subsequently, a rapid ultra high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization triple-quadrupole mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QQQ-MS/MS) method was developed to evaluate the quality of XSNC through a simultaneous determination of 16 components. A total of 21 volatile components and 59 non-volatile compounds were tentatively identified from the XSNC, each identified compound is marked on the corresponding chromatogram. Moreover, sixteen chemical constituents (sophocarpine, matrine, febrifugine, berberine, palmatine, Tangeratin, nobiletin, liensinine, neferine, scopoletin, isoliquiritigenin, liquiritigenin, naringenin, naringin, hesperidin and glycyrrhizic acid) were quantified by the developed UHPLC-QQQ-MS/MS method. The method validation of the sixteen compounds was performed with acceptable linearity (R 2 , 0.9990-1.0000), precision (RSD, 0.25-2.06%), repeatability (RSD, 0.93-2.90%) and recovery (99.65%-104.03%, RSD≤4.35%). This qualitative analysis method sensitive and reliable for searching the volatile and non-volatile compounds from XSNC. The linearity, accuracy and precision of the quantitative analysis method were satisfactory. It is proposed that the methods described here can be applied for rapid evaluation, quality control and authenticity establishment of XSNC.