Evaluation of Tripterygium Wilfordii Hook. f. from Different Habitats by HPLC Fingerprint and Principal Component Analysis

OBJECTIVE To scientifically evaluate and effectively control the quality of Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. f. (TW) by HPLC fingerprint combined with principal component analysis (PCA). METHODS An HPLC method was developed to establish the fingerprint of TW from different habitats, and PCA was applied to get score chart and loading diagram with the main components as the variables. RESULTS The common mode of the HPLC characteristic chromatographic profile was set up with 18 common peaks, and six of the common peaks were identified as triptolide, triptonide, wilforgine, wilforine, tripterine and wilforlide A. The similar degrees of eleven batches of TW to the common mode were between 0.587 and 0.913. The result of PCA showed that the accumulative contribution rate of the first five principal components was 89.603%, so as long as the five factors were chosen, the quality of TW could be evaluate basically. According to the composite score, the quality of TW from the areas of Sichuan Aba, Sichuan Dabashan, Yunnan Xishuangbanna were better than others. CONCLUSION The application of HPLC combined with PCA could quickly and objectively evaluate the quality of TW from different regions.