Abstract:

To monitoring illegal abuse of these drugs, a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method for identification of glucocorticoids in Chinese traditional medicine preparations was developed. Samples were extracted using different methods according to the nature of products. The analyses were performed on a Diamond C18 column (5 μm, 250 mm×4.6 mm) with gradient elution using water-tetrahydrofuran (100∶1, v/v) as mobile phase A and acetonitrile-water-tetrahydrofuran (80∶20∶1, v/v) as mobile phase B. Prednisone acetate in the preparation used to cure dermatitis was identified by comparing the retention time, full scan MS, and full scan MS2.

Key words: Chinese traditional medicine preparations , glucocorticoids, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)