An UPLC-MS/MS method for simultaneous determination of multiple constituents in Guizhi Fuling capsule with ultrafast positive/negative ionization switching

Guizhi Fuling capsule (GFC), a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with effects of promoting blood circulation and dissipating blood stasis, has been widely used in the clinic. Because of the complex matrix and various chemical structure types, quality control of GFC remains great challenge. In the present study, an ultra performance liquid chromatography hybrid triple-quadrupole mass spectrometry (UPLC-QQQ MS) method with ultrafast positive/negative ionization switching was developed for simultaneous determination of 18 bioactive components in GFC, including methyl gallate, ethyl gallate, oxypaeoniflorin, benzoic acid, albiflorin, paeonolide, paeoniflorin, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6-pentagalloylglucose, mudanpioside C, benzoyloxypaeoniflorin, benzoylpaeoniflorin, pachymic acid, amygdalin, cinnamaldehyde, paeonol, cinnamic acid, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, and gallic acid. Separation was performed on an Agilent Zorbax Extend-C18 column (2.1 mm×50 mm, 1.8 μm), using a gradient elution with acetonitrile and water containing 0.1% formic acid. Cholic acid was selected as the internal standard. This newly developed method was fully validated for linearity, precision, accuracy, and stability, and then applied to quality assessment of GFC. Finally, the batch-to-batch reproducibility of GFC samples was evaluated by the cosine ration and Euclidean distance method, which showed high quality consistency. The results demonstrated that the developed method provided a reasonable and powerful manner for quality control of GFC.