Simultaneous determination of nine components in Qingkailing injection by HPLC/ELSD/DAD and its application to the quality control

High-performance liquid chromatography coupled with photo diode array detection and evaporative light scattering detection (HPLC/DAD/ELSD) was established to simultaneously determine nine ingredients in Qingkailing injection. Four wavelengths at 240, 254, 280 and 330 nm, respectively, were chosen as the monitoring wavelength to determine two nucleosides (uridine and adenosine), geniposide, baicalin and two organic acids (chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid), and an evaporative light scattering detector combined was employed to determine three steroids (cholic acid, ursodeoxycholic acid and hyodeoxycholic acid). This assay was fully validated in respect to precision, repeatability and accuracy. The proposed method was successfully applied to quantify the nine ingredients in 19 different Qingkailing injection samples and by principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA), it demonstrated significant variations in the content of these compounds in the samples from different manufacturers and preparation procedures. This method could be readily utilized as a quality control method for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).