Quality marker identification based on standard decoction of differently processed materials of Ephedrae Herba

The quality control of Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a scientific problem and an industrial issue, which hampers the development of evidence based TCM. The concept of quality markers (Q-markers) is proposed and has been applied to the quality evaluation of TCM based on its clinical efficacy. However, more specific methods are needed to put this idea into practice. The standard decoction is a representative of decoction used in clinical practice and it can be used for the discovery of Q-markers related to the clinical efficacy of TCM.

In this study, a systemic strategy was established to discover Q-markers related to the clinical efficacy of TCM Ephedrae Herba (EH), dried stem of Ephedra sinica Stapf. The different processed materials of EH have different clinical applications, though originating from the same medicinal herb.

The standard decoction of each of the processed materials was prepared and a ¹HNMR metabolomics approach and total polysaccharide analysis were used to identify potential Q-markers related to the different clinical applications of EH. Correlation analysis was made of the measured biological activity and the holistic chemical profile.

The results showed that total polysaccharides and alkaloids were Q-markers for EH preparations.

This study demonstrates that the standard decoction is a reasonable research objective to explore chemical markers that correlate with the clinical efficacy of TCM.