Combination of matrix solid phase dispersion and response surface evaluation for simultaneous detections of multiple bioactive constituents of Traditional Chinese Medicine Formula: Using Baoyuan Capsule as an example

Abstract

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) formulae contain abundant chemical ingredients, leading to the development of high quality TCM productions be difficult. With different pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic parameters of the chemical ingredients in a TCM formula, it is desirable to simultaneously identify multiple ingredients for accurate quality control. In the present study, we introduce a novel strategy for TCM formula quality assessment by using the combined methods of the extraction condition optimization, quantitative analyzation, and response surface evaluation. We used Bao-Yuan Capsule (BYC), a patented TCM production, as a model system for quality assessment. We applied matrix solid phase dispersion (MSPD) as a rapid and efficient method to prepare sample extraction. Q-Trap-MS related accurate methods were applied to simultaneously analyze 13 bioactive constituents as bioactive markers in the BYC. Those methods revealed a high sensitivity to detect the target compounds at the concentrations ranging from 0.12 to 0.95 ng/mL for flavonoids and ginsenosides whose recoveries were ranged from 91.93%–105.84%. We employed the response surface methodology to optimize the extraction conditions including dispersant/sample ratio, solvent concentration, and elution volume based on the content of ginsenosides as the test samples. The results showed the high extraction efficiency of ginsenosides with dispersant/sample ratio at 3/4, methanol concentration at 85 %, and elution volume at 15 mL. Taken together, we conclude that the combination strategy of MSPD and response surface evaluation for simultaneous detections of multiple bioactive constituents could be a powerful and efficient method for performing accurately quality control of complex TCM production preparations.