Fingerprints of water extraction from Zuojinwan and its similar formulaes were established by a high-performance liquid chromatography method. The average relative peak area of every characteristic absorption peak was calculated. Meanwhile the similarity between the similar formulae was obtained by a “similarity evaluation” system for chromatographic fingerprint of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) (Version 2004A). The power-time curves of Escherichia coli growth affected by the water extraction from Zuojinwan and its similar formulaes were monitored using 3115-TAM air isothermal calorimeter by microcalorimetry. By analyzing the power-time curves, quantitative parameters, such as growth rate constant k, maximum heat production rate Pm, appearance time tm and total heat-production Qt were obtained. The biothermo-kinetics parameters were analyzed using principal component analysis. The spectrum-effect relationships between the average relative peak area of every characteristic absorption peak from HPLC fingerprints and the main biothermo-kinetics parameters from the power-time curves were investigated with multivariant correlation analysis. Close correlation existed between the spectrum-effect relationships based on the HPLC fingerprints and biothermo-logical activity. The different contents of evodiamine, palmatine hydrochloride and berberine hydrochloride were the main factors resulting in the different biothermo-logical activity of Zuojinwan and its similar formulaes.

Key words: Zuojinwan and its similar formulaes, HPLC fingerprint, biothermo-logical activity, spectrum-effect relationship