Integrated evaluation of HPLC and UV fingerprints for the quality control of Danshen tablet by systematic quantified fingerprint method combined with antioxidant activity.

Danshen tablet, which consists of Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma and Borneolum syntheticum, has been widely used in the therapy of cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to develop comprehensive evaluation methods for the quality control of Danshen tablet. First, five-wavelength fusion fingerprint was established to avoid one-sidedness of a single wavelength. Then, the ultraviolet spectrum fingerprint was applied to reflect the information of unsaturated bond and conjugated system of chemical substances in Danshen tablet. The similarity analyses of these two fingerprints were performed by systematic quantified fingerprint method in terms of qualitative and quantitative aspects. After that, the evaluation results of high-performance liquid chromatography and ultraviolet fingerprints were integrated by the mean algorithm, which could reduce the error caused by single method. The integrated evaluation results showed that 30 batches of samples were classified into seven grades. Finally, the fingerprint-efficacy relationship was established using an on-line antioxidant system and partial least-squares model to explore the connection between chemical components and antioxidant activities. The methods established in this paper were found suitable for the analysis of Danshen tablet.