Comprehensive chemical profiling of volatile constituents of Angong Niuhuang Pill in vitro and in vivo based on gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry

BACKGROUND: Angong Niuhuang Pill (ANP), a renowned precious traditional Chinese medicine prescription, is extensively utilized for the clinical treatment of stroke, meningitis and encephalorrhagia in China. As a classic resuscitation-inducing aromatic prescription, ANP has been investigated for its pharmacological effects in recent years, while the volatile composition in ANP still lacks comprehensive elucidation. METHOD: To better explore the volatile constituents in ANP, a qualitative analysis method was developed based on gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. Furthermore, a validated quantitative method was established to determine 21 main compounds in 8 batches of commercially available ANP samples by gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The quantitative data were successively subjected to Pearson correlation coefficient analysis. Additionally, the absorbed volatile constituents in rat plasma after single oral administration of ANP have also been characterized. RESULTS: A total of 93 volatile constituents including 29 sesquiterpenoids, 28 monoterpenoids, 13 fatty acids and their esters, 7 alkanes, 6 ketones, 3 phenols, 3 aldehydes, 2 benzoate esters, and 2 other types, were preliminarily characterized, which primarily originated from Borneolum, Moschus, Curcumae Radix, and Gardeniae Fructus. d-Borneol, isoborneol and muscone were the top three abundant ingredients (> 600 μg/g) in 8 batches of ANP samples. Subsequently, the average Pearson correlation coefficient of the contents of 21 analytes was 0.993, inferring the high batch-to-batch similarity among 8 batches. After oral administration of ANP, d-borneol, isoborneol, muscone and camphor were the main volatile constituents absorbed in the rat plasma. CONCLUSION: This research may be helpful for the comprehensive quality control study of ANP, and provide for guarantee the clinical efficacy of ANP. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13020-022-00659-8.