The Zuojin Pill consists of Coptidis Rhizoma (CR) and Euodiae Fructus (EF). It has been a classic prescription for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases in China since ancient times. Alkaloids are considered to be its main pharmacologically active substances. The authors of the present study investigated the feasibility of preparing high purity total alkaloids (TAs) from CR and EF extracts separately and evaluated the effect for the treatment of bile reflux gastritis (BRG). Coptis chinensis Franch. and Evodia rutaecarpa (Juss.) Benth. were used in the study. An optimized method for the enrichment and purification of TAs with macroporous resin was established. Furthermore, qualitative analysis by using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization and quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS) was explored to identify the components of purified TAs. Thirty-one compounds, thirty alkaloids and one phenolic compound, were identified or tentatively assigned by comparison with reference standards or literature data. A method of ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detector (UHPLC-DAD) for quantitative analysis was also developed. The contents of nine alkaloids were determined. Moreover, a rat model of BRG was used to investigate the therapeutic effect of the combination of purified TAs from CR and EF. Gastric pathologic examination suggested that the alkaloids' combination could markedly attenuate the pathological changes of gastric mucosa.
Keywords: Coptidis Rhizoma; Euodiae Fructus; UHPLC–DAD; UHPLC–ESI–QTOF-MS; bile reflux gastritis; enrichment and purification; gastric pathology; macroporous resin; rats; total alkaloids.