title: Simultaneous determination of eleven characteristic lignans in Schisandra chinensis by high-performance liquid chromatography.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Schisandra chinensis, one of the well-known traditional Chinese herbal medicines, is derived from the dry ripe fruits of Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill. according to the 9th China Pharmacopeia. Lignans are the main components isolated from extracts of S. chinensis and their content varies depending on where S. chinensis was collected. We have established a qualitative and quantitative method based on the bioactive lignans for control of the quality of S. chinensis from different sources.
  
  
  METHODS
  To develop a high-performance liquid chromatography method, an Elite ODS C18 column (250 mm Χ 4.6 mm, 5μm) at a column temperature of 30°C and flow rate of 1.0ml/min using acetonitrile (A) and water (B) as the mobile phase with a linear gradient and the peaks were monitored at 217 nm.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All calibration curves showed good linearity (r ≥ 0.9995) within test ranges. This method showed good repeatability for the quantification of these eleven components in S. chinensis with intra- and inter-day relative standard deviations less than 0.43% and 1.21%, respectively. In the recovery test, results of accuracy ranged from 99.51% to 101.31% with RSD values less than 2.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The validated method can be successfully applied to quantify the eleven investigated components in 22 samples of S. chinensis from different sources.
authors.affiliation: College of Pharmaceutical Science, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, 210046, PR China.
authors.forename: Junyang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Chunqin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.forename: Xiaodong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: Tulin
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Han
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Zhijun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Baochang
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cai
keywords: Schisandra chinensis; high-performance liquid chromatography; lignans; quality control