Analyses Of The Chemical Composition Of Traditional Chinese Medicinal Preparation Gancaofuzi Decoction

Gancaofuzi decoction was first recorded in Treatise on Cold-induced Febrile Diseases written by Zhang Zhongjing, which is composed of four herbs, Fuzi (Heishunpian), Gancao, Guizhi and Baizhu. Gancaofuzi decoction has the function of war-ming yang, expelling wind, removing swelling, eliminating dampness and relieving pains, which has been usually used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, arthritis, rheumatic heart disease and so on. The chemical components in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) are responsible for their therapeutic effects and the compatibility mechanism. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and mass spectrometry (MS) have been proved to be effective methods for the analysis of TCM due to high accuracy, sensitivity, speed and good separation. In this paper, we have studied on the chemical components and medicinal material base of Gancaofuzi Decoction, including three parts.1. Analyses of chemical composition of Gancaofuzi decoction.We extracted the chemical components by systemic gradient extraction from single medicine, matched pair, and the whole prescription, and then the trichloromethane extract, ethyl acetate extract and N-butyl alcohol extract were obtained. HPLC has been applied to separate and detect chemical composition of the above extracts and most of the components were separated successfully. There were seventy-one chromatographic peaks, which sixty-three peaks were in the whole prescription, which two peaks belong to Heishunpian, thirty-eight peaks belong to Gancao, thirteen peaks come from Guizhi and six peaks are assigned to Baizhu.2. Quantitative determination of aconitum alkaloids of Gancaofuzi decoction. Heishunpian is the monarch medicine of Gancaofuzi decoction, and the major composition of Heishunpian is aconitum alkaloids. There are four types alkaloids in Heishunpian, which are diterpenoid alkaloids (DDAs), monoterpenes alkaloids (MDAs), ammonia alcohol alkaloids (ADAs) and lipo-alkaloids (LDAs). HPLC and electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry were applied to determine the quality of aconitum alkaloids in Heishunpian before and after its compatibility with Gancao, Guizhi and Baizhu. We found that Gancao and Guizhi could reduce quality of DDAs, but Baizhu facilitate its dissolution.3. Quantitative determination of polysaccharides and organic acids of Gancaofuzi decoction.Phenol-sulfuric acid method and acid-base titration were applied respectively to analyze polysaccharides and organic acids of Gancaofuzi decoction. Baizhu and Heishunpian have the highest content of polysaccharides, Gancao comes second, and Guizhi takes the last place. The dissolution of polysaccharides in Heishunpian decreases after its compatibility with the three others. The dissolution of polysaccharides in Baizhu increases when it decocted with Gancao or Baizhu. The polysaccharides of Gancaofuzi decoction dissolve out less. Baizhu has the most abundant organic acids, Gancao comes second, Heishunpian takes the third place, and Guizhi takes the last place. The amount of organic acids dissolved less when Heishunpian and Gancao, Heishunpiani and Guizhi, Guizhi and Gancao or Guizhi and Baizhu decocted together. The dissolution of organic acids in Gancaofuzi decoction decreases a bit.