Simultaneous determination of nineteen major components in Qi She Pill by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

Qi She Pill (QSP) is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescription that has been used in treating cervical spondylosis radiculopathy for many years. In this study, a simple and sensitive method using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC–MS/MS) on a reverse-phase C18 column was developed for the simultaneous determination of the 19 major components in QSP. We found that the optimum mobile phase for gradient elution was 0.1% formic acid and methanol. The correlation coefficients of all calibration curves were greater than 0.99. Recoveries measured at three concentration levels varied from 95.43% to 102.35%. Relative standard deviations of intra- and inter-day precisions were less than 4.45%. After successfully validating our method, we then applied it to the quantification of 19 components in QSP products to show that this method provides a new standard in quality assessment of TCM prescriptions containing multiple bioactive components.
Graphical abstract An accurate and reliable UPLC–MS/MS method was developed to assess the multiple constituents in QSP. This method provides a new standard in quality control of QSP. Many components in the QSP prescription which are responsible for beneficial effects were detected for the first time.