RÉSUMÉ
Objective To establish the method of simultaneous determination of four main components of Danggui Liuhuang Decoction, including phellodendrine, palmatine, calycosin, and ferulic acid and provide reference for the quality control of Danggui Liuhuang Decoction. Methods Based on the HPLC-MS/MS analysis method, the positive ion data acquisition mode were adopted for the mass spectrometry detection and the four main components were quantified with multiple reaction monitoring mode (MRM) by ESI source. The chromatographic column was Agilent Extend-C18 (5 μm, 4.6 mm×250 mm), and gradient elution was performed with methanol and 0.5% formic acid in water. Results The linear range of phellodendrine was from 2-200 nmol/ml, and the linear range of palmatine, calycosin and ferulic acid was from 20-2 000 nmol/ml. The contents of the four components in the seven batches of Danggui Liuhuang Decoction were relatively stable, among which ferulic acid was mainly found in Phellodendrine and Coptidis; Phellodendrine was only detected in cortex phellodendri; the content of calycosin in Scutellaria baicalensis and Astragalus was higher; palmatine was detected in both Phellodendron and Astragalus. Conclusion The method had high sensitivity, good specificity and sample stability, which could meet the requirements of quantitative analysis of Traditional Chinese Medicine compounds, and could provide reference for further pharmacokinetics study on the content changes of traditional Chinese medicine compounds in biological samples.