Chromatographic Analysis of Traditional Chinese Medicines

LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINES 

Liquid chromatography is a powerful separation tool because multiple separation mechanisms can be employed partitioning (RP), adsorption (NP), hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC), ion 

Having many active synergistic constituents (a multicomponent character) interacting with multiple receptors in the human body is seen as a major advantage of TCMs and pivotal for the overall therapeutic effect [2]. However, the multicomponent character is also a major obstacle for the quantitation of components, identification of structures, explanation of the mode of action, and elucidating metabolic pathways. To date, himdreds of papers report on the simultaneous determination of multiple components in crude materia medica or finished TCMs [10,12—20]. 

Developing a quantitative multicompound assay is a challenging task, especially if several analytes from different compoimd classes need to be simultaneously analyzed. The validation may take many months. Electrospray ionization—mass spectrometry (ESI—MS) as a detector is becoming more common, as it combines high sensitivity with high selectivity. In our view, a state-of-the-art assay should fulfill as many of the following requirements as possible  

Another example is the simultaneous determination by LC—MS of seven active compoimds in a plasma sample collected after oral administration of a Zi-Shen pill (ZSP) xanthone glycosides (neo-mangiferin and mangiferin), timosaponins (timosaponin El, tim-osaponin B-11 and timosaponin B), and two alkaloids (palmatine and berberine) [23]. Ginsenoside Re (for xanthones and timosaponins) and tetrahydroberberine (for alkaloids) were chosen as internal standards (IS) for MS quantitation. Sample preparation consisted of only protein 

---

Liquid Chromatographic Analysis of Traditional Chinese Medicines... 

---