Separation and simultaneous determination of seven bioactive components in Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. F. and Tripterygium preparations by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography.

A simple, comprehensive, and highly selective MEKC method has been developed for simultaneous analysis of seven bioactive components (triptolide, wilfortrine, wilfordine, wilforgine, wilforine, triptophenolide, and triptonide) in the root extracts of Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. F. (TWHF) and Tripterygium preparations (TPs). Optimal BGE consisted of 10 mM sodium tetraborate, 30 mM SDS, and 30% v/v methanol. The separation voltage was 20 kV and the temperature was 25°C. A DAD was used and the detection wavelength was at 218 nm. Under the optimum conditions, the baseline separation of seven components was achieved in less than 26 min. Excellent precision, good stability, and accuracy were obtained. For all analytes, linear calibrations were established within 10-100 μg/mL. The LOD and LOQ were within 1.2-4.2 μg/mL and 4.0-14 μg/mL, respectively. The developed method was suitable for the determination of key components in TWHF and TPs.