Chemical material basis study of Xuefu Zhuyu decoction by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Xuefu Zhuyu decoction, a classic prescription in traditional Chinese medicine, has been widely used in the clinical treatment of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. In order to profile the chemical material basis of this formula, an ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (Q/TOF MS) method has been established for rapid separation and structural characterization of compounds in the decoction. As a result, 103 compounds including phenolic acids, spermidines, C-glycosyl quinochalcones, terpenoids, flavonoids, saponins, and others were detected; 35 of them were unambiguously identified, and 68 were tentatively characterized by comparing the retention time, MS data, characteristic MS fragmentation pattern and retrieving the literature. In conclusion, the UPLC coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry method developed in this work is an efficient approach to perform chemical material basis studies of traditional Chinese medicine formulae.