Objective To study the relationship between the UHPLC-QTRAP-MS/MS (MRM) characteristic chemical profile and an?ti-tumor effect, and to provide a basis for clarifying the material basis of anti-tumor effect of medicinal Zicao.Methods The characteristic chemical profile of medicinal Zicao from different habitats was established by UHPLC-QTRAP-MS/MS (MRM) technology (Data derived from the Hakka Institute of Medicinal Biological Resources, Jiaying University School of Medicine from May 2018 to December2019). The anti-tumor effect of inhibition to A549 cells was studied by MTT assays. The spectra-effect relationship was established by partial least squares regression analysis and validation test of anti-tumor in vitro was carried out.Results The anti-tumor effect of medicinal Zicao towards A549 cells was the combined action of 24 components, and the peaks of the major contribution to anti-tumor effect were as the following order: 59, 9, 66, 32, 62, 45, 46, 58, 43, 71, 13, 63, 41, 44, 5, 39, 34, 65, 49, 21, 12, 3, 22 and 60. The validation test showed that shikonofuran A (19.86±0.55) μmol/L, shikonin (1.10±0.05) μmol/L, shikonofuran E (22.60±0.92) μmol/L, acetylshikonin (2.53±0.11) μmol/L, deoxyshikonin (5.43±0.24) μmol/L, isobutyrylshikonin (2.16±0.10) μmol/L, β, β-dimethylacrylshikonin (3.50±0.16) μmol/L and α-methylbutyrylshikonin (0.74±0.03) μmol/L exhibited good inhibitory effects on A549 cells with inhibitory concentration 50 (IC50)values ranging from 0.74 to 22.60 μmol/L. The IC50 value of paclitaxel was (3.45±0.16) μmol/L.Conclusion The anti-tumor effect of medicinal Zicao is the result of combination of various components and the material basis of the antitumor effect has been revealed preliminarily. This study provides a reference for the further research and development of medicinal Zicao. |