Abstract:Objective: To establish an HPLC method for determination of changes of characteristic components before and after the compatibility of Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix-Clematidis Radix et Rhizoma,Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix-Taxilli Herba, and Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix-Stephaniae Teerandrae Radix. Method: The chromatographic column was Agilent A3000250×046 Pursuit 5 C18 (4.6 mm×250 mm,5 μm), with 0.04% phosphoricacid solution (A)-acetonitrile (B) as the mobile phase for gradient elution (0-15 min,5% -15% B;15-25 min,15% -25% B;25-35 min,25% -35% B;35-40 min,35% -70% B;40-55 min,70% -95% B) at the flow rate of 0.8 mL·min-1. The detection wavelength was set at 220 nm,and the column temperature was set at 25 ℃. Result: The 16 characteristic peaks (w1-w16) were isolated from Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix-Clematidis Radix et Rhizoma herbal pair;18 characteristic peaks (s1-s18) were isolated from Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix-Taxilli Herba herbal pair;and 21 characteristic peaks (f1-f21) were isolated from Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix-Stephaniae Teerandrae Radix herbal pair. Among them,the peak areas of w1,w3,w4,w5,w6,w7,w8,w10,w11,w13,w16,s3,s4,s5,s7,s9,s10,s11,s12,s13,s14,f1,f4,f6,f8,f12,f14,f15,f16 and f21 were increased;peak areas of w2,w9,s1,s2,s6,s8,f2,f3,f5,f10,f11,f13,f17 and f19 were decreased;and the peak areas of w14,w15,s16,s17,s18,f9 and f20 were not changed. w8,s7 and f9 were swertiamarin;w10,s8 and f11 were gentiamarin;s13,f16 and f17 were quercitin,fangchinoline and tetrandrine. w12,s15,f7 and f18 were the new components produced in the herbal pairs. Conclusion: After Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix compatibility,the contents of characteristic ingredient were changed and new components were generated. The established HPLC method was simple,accurate and repeatable to analyze the changes of characteristic components before and after different Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix drug combinations.