Rapid identification, quantitation, and antioxidant activity evaluation of the components in Guanxin Shutong capsule with liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry

Guanxin Shutong capsule (GSC) is a traditional Chinese medicinal prescription used in the treatment of coronary heart disease (CHD) and angina pectoris in clinic. However, the chemical profile of GSC is still uncovered, which hindered the progress of pharmacological study and clinical application. Herein, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) together with high resolution mass spectrometry (HR-MS) techniques were employed to analyze the quality consistency and to identify chemical components in GSC. As a result, a total of 111 compounds were tentatively annotated. Quantitative analysis based on HPLC-ultraviolet detection (UV) was performed for 6 main components and fingerprints of 10 different batches of GSC were established. The developed method was validated for linearity, precision, repeatability, stability, and recovery. The quality evaluation and similarity analysis of the 10 batches were also performed. Furthermore, in vitro antioxidant activity assays demonstrated that GSC exhibited potential DPPH and hydroxyl radical scavenging capacities. Especially, salvianolic acids showed the strongest free radical scavenging capacities, which might be the main component for quality control of GSC. [Display omitted] •HPLC and HRMS techniques were applied to elucidate the chemical profile of GSC.•A total of 115 compounds were tentatively annotated from GSC.•Quantification of 6 components and fingerprint study proved the consistency of GSC.•HPLC-based DPPH and·OH quenching assays revealed the contribution of components.