Simultaneous determination of seven flavonoids, two phenolic acids and two cholesterines in Tanreqing injection by UHPLC-MS/MS.

A new ultra-high performance liquid chromatography combined with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry was developed to evaluate the quality of Tanreqing injection. Seven flavonoids (Rutin, Baicalin, Scutellarin, Chrysin-7-O-Beta-d-glucoronide, Oroxylin A-7-O-β-d-glucoronide, Wogonin, Luteolin-7-O-glucoside), two phenolic acids (Chlorogenic acid, Caffeic acid) and two cholesterines (Ursodeoxycholic acid, Chenodeoxycholic acid) in Tanreqing injection could be measured simultaneously. For the determination of the eleven compounds, the conditions were set as follows: The mobile phase was a gradient of 0.1% aqueous formic acid solution (A) and acetonitrile (B); the flow rate was 0.2 mL min-1, the column was Acquity UPLC HSS T3 column (2.1 mm × 100 mm, 1.8 μm); and the multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) with a negative electro spray ionization interface (ESI-) was selected. Within the test ranges, all the standard regression curves showed excellent linear regression (r > 0.99). In terms of (relative standard deviation) RSDs, the precision, repeatability and stability of the eleven compounds were all lower than 3%. The recovery rates of Tanreqing injection and the RSD were 97.8-103.7% and 0.4%-2.0%, respectively. The RSD value was in accordance with the requirements of less than 3.0%. This method has been successfully used in the analysis of Tanreqing injection. In summary, a fast, accurate and reliable UPLC-ESI--MS/MS method was successfully developed for the simultaneous detection of the eleven major active ingredients with different chemical structures in Tanreqing injection, and can be used for the quality control of Tanreqing injection as well.