Component analysis and structure identification of active substances for anti-gastric ulcer effects in Radix Astragali by liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry

Abstract This study provided a comprehensive component analysis and structure identification of active substances for the anti-gastric ulcer effects of Radix Astragali . The data were generated by organically combining the results from in vivo pharmacodynamic experiments, a cell growth-promoting assay, structure identification, content determination, fingerprinting, and correlation analyses. The fingerprints from high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a diode array detector (HPLC–DAD) and from HPLC coupled with evaporative light scattering detectors (ELSD) from 95% ethanol extracts of Radix Astragali (ERA) were determined using HPLC–DAD–ELSD. The structures of 16 compounds were identified using ultra-pressure liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–ESI–MS). The contents of these 16 compounds were simultaneously determined in a single run using HPLC–DAD–ELSD. The strength of the anti-ulceration effect of each of the 16 compounds was correlated to its content in the HPLC spectrum using gray relation statistics. The sequence of the contribution from each of the 16 compounds to the anti-gastric ulcer effect was determined. The results showed that ononin, astragalosideIII, and astragalosideIV contributed most to the observed anti-gastric ulcer effects and that these three compounds also exhibited strong growth-promoting effects in cultured GES-1 cells. The results of this study can be used to evaluate the quality of Radix Astragali and to provide a theoretical foundation for its further study.