Rapid and sensitive analysis of multiple bioactive constituents in Compound Danshen preparations using LC-ESI-TOF-MS

By fully optimizing the separation and analytical conditions, a rapid-resolution LC (RRLC, 1.8 microm particle size) coupled with TOF-MS method was developed and validated for multiple compounds analysis of traditional Chinese medicinal compound preparations (TCMCPs). As a typical example, determination of Compound Danshen preparations (CDPs, mainly comprising Salvia miltiorrhiza and Panax notoginseng), was improved on three groups of bioactive constituents (phenolic acids, diterpenoids, and saponins). LODs down to 1.2 pg, permitting very good separation of 20 analytes and 3 internal standards (ISs) in 17 min, represented an approximate five-fold reduction of time compared to conventional HPLC. Unequivocal identification of target compounds in CDPs was based on accurate mass measurement of ions, and comparison of retention performance with available standards. Quantitation was carried out using the narrow window extracted ion chromatograms (XICs) of each compound with an interference-free baseline (using a +/-0.02 Da window) yielding good linearity of response (r(2) >0.9940), and excellent precision of retention time (t(R)) both interday (RSD, 0.01-0.19%) and intraday (RSD, 0.02-1.08%). The acceptable recoveries obtained were in the range of 77.69-113.8%. The results demonstrated the robustness and applicability of RRLC-TOF-MS for multicomponents analysis in TCMCPs with diverse chemical compositions and properties.