Multibatch Fingerprint Integrated with Multi-Indicator Efficacy for Quality Evaluation of Sanhua Decoction and Investigation of Its Mechanistic Basis against Cerebral Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury

Building upon the spectrum-effect relationship theory in traditional Chinese medicine, ultraperformance liquid chromatography (UPLC) was utilized to generate fingerprint profiles for 12 batches of Sanhua Decoction (SHD). These profiles were analyzed in relation to pharmacological efficacy, providing a novel strategy to elucidate the material basis of SHD against cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury (CIRI) and for efficacy evaluation. The UPLC fingerprints identified 33 common peaks, with 28 chemical constituents characterized. Pharmacodynamic assessment using a rat CIRI model demonstrated that SHD significantly improved neurological deficit scores, reduced cerebral infarct volume, and enhanced brain histopathology, with effects correlated to key indicators such as vascular endothelial growth factor. Gray relational analysis showed that 32 of the 33 peaks had a correlation degree greater than 0.706 with efficacy, confirming the synergistic effect of multiple components in SHD's anti-CIRI action. Orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis identified 11 potential major active compounds significantly associated with anti-CIRI activity. An "efficacy-integrated fingerprint" was constructed by integrating chemical fingerprinting with pharmacodynamic indices, reflecting the intrinsic quality of SHD. This methodology offers a scientific and efficient approach for chemical constituent investigation and pharmacodynamic material basis elucidation of SHD and other traditional Chinese medicines.