Quantitative comparative analysis for nine main bioactive components of san-ao decoction, its herb Pairs, and three single herbs

摘要

San-ao decoction (SAD), a representative formula for asthma, has been used clinically to treat upper respiratory diseases such as colds and bronchitis for thousands of years. On the basis of SAD many modern Chinese patent drugs for cough were developed and applied in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) clinics. Recent research results showed that the major bioactive components of SAD consist of alkaloids, flavonoids, triterpenes, and so on. In the study, a simple high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) coupled with diode array detection (DAD) was developed for simultaneous quantification and comparative analysis of nine major bioactive components including ephedrine (1), amygdalin (2), liquiritin (3), benzoic acid (4), isoliquiritin (5), liquiritigenin (6), isoliquiritigenin (7), formononetin (8), and glycyrrhizic acid (9) in its three raw herbs of SAD in different compatibilities. The results indicated that application of the current method for the evaluation of raw herbs, herb pairs, and formulae showed a wide variation in the content of the identified active compounds in these samples, which could be helpful to illustrate the drug interactions during decocting process of TCM formulae according to the quantity changes of these marker compounds.