Study on spectrum-effect correlation for screening the effective components in Fangji Huangqi Tang basing on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

Backgroud: Fangji Huangqi Tang (FHT) is a traditional Chinese medicine formula. Our previous work found that FHT could improve glomerular filtration function. The research on the effective materials basis of FHT was rarely reported. Purpose: The effect indicators of glomerular filtration function were determined. The components in serum of FHT was detected and identified. The relationships between chemical spectra of serum and effect indicators were elucidated. Study design: The paper was to study the underlying correlations between the chemical spectra and the protective effect of FHT on glomerulus to reveal the potential effective compounds in FHT. Methods: For the serum pharmacochemistry study, the biological samples were collected according to a time schedule designed carefully in advance. The fingerprint chromatograms of rat serum after oral administration of FHT were established by UHPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS technique. Meanwhile, in the pharmacodynamics research, the protective effects of FHT on glomerulonephritis were evaluated by detecting the contents of cystatin C (Cys C), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and serum creatinine (Scr). Then, the spectrum-effect relationships between UHPLC fingerprints and anti-adriamycin nephrosis activities were evaluated using canonical correlation analysis (CCA) statistical method. Results: As a result, 105 peaks were identified from rat serum samples, which turned out to be 26 original compounds of FHT as well as 79 metabolites. According to the CCA results, eleven components were finally found to be the main anti-adriamycin nephrosis components. Conclusions: The model successfully discovered the spectrum-effect relationships of FHT, which showed a representative way to discover the primary active ingredients from the complex herbal medicine system.