Bioanalysis and Pharmacokinetics of Eight Active Components from Huanglian Jiedu Decoction in Rat Plasma by LC-ESI-MS/MS Method

Abstract

ObjectiveTo develop a sensitive and rapid liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) method for the simultaneous determination of wogonin, coptisine, berberine, palmatine, jatrorrhizine, phellodendrine, magnoflorine, and wogonoside in rat plasma and to evaluate the pharmacokinetic characteristics of Huanglian Jiedu Decoction (HJD). MethodsLC separation was performed on an Acquity HSS T3 column (100 mm × 2.1 mm, 1.8 μm) using gradient elution with the mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile and 0.1% formic acid water. The detection was accomplished by using positive electrospray ionization in multiple-reaction monitoring mode. Plasma samples were pretreated by protein precipitation. ResultsThe method showed a good linearity over a wide concentration range (r2 > 0.99). The lower limits of quantification were 0.20 ng/mL for coptisine and phellodendrine, 0.48 ng/mL for berberine, 0.10 ng/mL for jatrorrhizine, 0.32 ng/mL for magnoflorine, 0.30 ng/mL for palmatine, and 4.80 ng/mL for wogonin and wogonoside, respectively. The intra- and inter-day precision of the analytes was less than 12.11%, while the accuracy was between −14.46% and 4.86%. The mean recovery of all the analytes ranged from 93.10% to 110.91%. ConclusionThis validated method offers the advantages of high sensitivity. It is successfully applied to evaluating the pharmacokinetic properties of HJD.