Comparative Chemical and Pharmacodynamic Evaluation of Different Purification Procedures for Yangxin Dingji Capsules

ABSTRACT Yangxin Dingji Capsules (YXDJ), derived from Zhigancao Decoction, are used clinically for arrhythmia. Four D101 macroporous‐resin purification procedures involving different Asini Corii Colla incorporation modes and elution solvents were compared; the co‐decoction procedures additionally included centrifugation and filtration before resin purification. The unpurified preparation and four purified preparations were characterized by UPLC‐Q‐TOF‐MS/MS and evaluated in a barium chloride‐induced rat arrhythmia model using electrocardiographic, biochemical, and histopathological indicators. Fifty‐five constituents were tentatively identified. The 60% ethanol‐eluted preparations CF1 and CF3 retained 52 and 51 constituents, respectively, whereas the water‐eluted preparations CF2 and CF4 retained 21 and 14. CF1 showed the highest Pearson correlation with YXDJ among the purified preparations ( r = 0.520), while CF3 had the highest five‐indicator comprehensive pharmacodynamic score among the purified preparations (CPS5 = 3.540); unpurified YXDJ scored 3.827. Compared with the model group, CF3 significantly increased heart rate, shortened QRS duration, reduced serum lactate dehydrogenase, and increased Na + /K + ‐ATPase activity. Exploratory one‐component partial least‐squares variable‐importance and gray relational analyses generated a provisional list of 12 constituents for subsequent targeted quantification and pharmacological verification.