HPLC–Q-TOF–MS/MS Analysis of the Constituents in the Rat Biological Fluids After Oral Administration of Qing Ru Xiao granules

A high-performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry method was established to detect as many constituents in rat biological fluids as possible after oral administration of Qing Ru Xiao granules (QRX). An Agilent Poroshell 120 EC-C18 column was adopted to separate the sample constituents, and mass spectra were acquired in positive and negative ion modes. First, the fingerprints of QRX were established, resulting in 28 components being detected within 30 min. Among these compounds, 11 were tentatively identified by comparing the retention times and mass spectral data with those of reference standards and the reference literature; the other 17 components were tentatively assigned solely based on the mass spectrometry data. Furthermore, metabolites in rat plasma and urine after oral administration of QRX were also analyzed. A total of 15 compounds were identified, including 13 prototypes and 2 metabolites through metabolic pathways of oxidation. This is the first systematic study on the metabolic profiling of QRX.