A Hexa-Herbal TCM Decoction Used to Treat Skin Inflammation: An LC-MS-Based Phytochemical Analysis

In order to understand the chemical relationship between a traditional hexa-herbal Chinese medicine formula and botanical drugs it is derived from, an analytical platform comprising liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry and data mining was developed to separate and identify key chemical components. The hexa-herbal formula comprises the rootstock of Scutellaria baicalensis, Rheum tanguticum, Sophora flavescens, the root bark of Dictamnus dasycarpus, the bark of Phellodendron chinense, and the fruit of Kochia scoparia. Seventy-three compounds including alkaloids, anthraquinone derivatives, coumarins, coumarins derivatives, flavonoids, flavone glycosides, naphthalene derivatives, phenylbutanone glucopyranoside, phenolic acids, pterocarpans, stilbenes, stilbenes derivatives, and tannins were putatively identified based on mass measurement and characteristic fragment ions. Among the botanical drugs of the hexa-herbal Chinese medicine formula, the rootstock of R. tanguticum and S. flavescens, bark of P. chinense, and rootstock of S. baicalensis contributed to the majority of the extracted metabolites of the formula decoction. The developed method appeared to be a versatile tool for monitoring chemical constituents in extracts of a traditional Chinese medicine formula in a relatively comprehensive and systematic manner, and helped to understand the importance of the individual botanical drugs within a formulation.