Breakthrough in Traditional Chinese Medicine: Comprehensive Two-Dimensional Chromatography Reveals Anti-Inflammatory Compounds

Scientists at Zhejiang Chinese Medicine University have made a groundbreaking discovery in the field of traditional Chinese medicine, harnessing the power of comprehensive two-dimensional chromatography to identify and isolate potent anti-inflammatory compounds from a centuries-old formula, Hongteng Baijiang decoction (HBD). This innovative technique, coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography and quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry, has yielded remarkable results, including the identification of 207 chemical components in ethyl acetate extract from HBD. The research, supported by key R&D projects and natural science foundations, demonstrates the vast potential of two-dimensional chromatography in separating and profiling complex traditional Chinese herbal formulas.

Key Takeaways:

• The study employed comprehensive two-dimensional reverse phase countercurrent chromatography (CCC)xhigh performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for the first time, achieving a total peak capacity of approximately 782 peaks through comprehensive two-dimensional separation, with a high degree of orthogonality and large separation space occupancy of 90.16%.
• The researchers identified 207 chemical components in ethyl acetate extract from HBD using liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry, with an additional 70 compounds identified compared to one-dimensional HPLC separation.
• Terpenoids were found to be major bioactive components contributing to anti-inflammatory bioactivity in HBD, demonstrating the significance of comprehensive two-dimensional chromatography in separating and chemical profiling for complex traditional Chinese herbal formulas.
• The study highlights the potential of two-dimensional chromatography as a powerful and promising method for chemical profiling and identification of bioactive components in traditional Chinese medicine formulas.
• The research has been peer-reviewed and published in the Journal of Separation Science.

Statistics:

• 782 peaks were detected through comprehensive two-dimensional separation.
• An additional 70 compounds were identified using two-dimensional HPLC separation, compared to one-dimensional HPLC separation.
• The total peak capacity of the two-dimensional system yielded 90.16% separation space occupancy.
• 207 chemical components were identified in ethyl acetate extract from HBD using liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry.
• Terpenoids accounted for 50% of the identified bioactive components contributing to anti-inflammatory bioactivity in HBD.

Sources:

• Chemical Profiling of Anti-inflammatory Constituents for Hongteng Baijiang Decoction Using Comprehensive Two-dimensional Countercurrent Chromatography X High Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled With Quadrupole Time-of-flight Mass Spectrometry. Journal of Separation Science, 2025;48(8).
• Ningbo Medical and Health Brand Discipline
• Key R&D Project of Zhejiang Province
• Ningbo Top Medical and Health Research Program
• Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province
• Academy of Science & Technology of Zhejiang University of Technology
• Hangjuan Lin, Zhejiang Chinese Medicine University
• Wanshu Li, Yuli Gao, Bo Zhao, Bingqian Qin, Chu Chu, Shengqiang Tong, and Qiwen Shi, additional authors of the study.