Qualitative analysis of chemical constituents in traditional Chinese medicine analogous formula cheng-Qi decoctions by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Cheng-Qi decoctions (CQs), a group of analogous formulas, are well-known traditional Chinese preparations used as purgative remedies to treat 'internal heat'-induced symptoms, which manifest as a bloated and painful abdomen, hard stools, fever and other clinical observations. In this study, HPLC-ESI-MS/MS and UPLC-TOF-MS were employed for separation and structural identification of constituents in CQs. As a result, a total of 90 compounds, including seven anthraquinones, 39 flavones, 21 glycosides, 11 stilbene glycosides, six organic acids, five coumarins and one lignans, were detected and tentatively identified in CQs extracts. The characterization results shed some light on the scientific foundation for clinical application of the CQ analogous formulas. Our results also indicate that the HPLC-MS method is useful for the systemic identification of major constituents in traditional Chinese medicine formulas.