Pharmacokinetics, Tissue Distribution and Plasma Protein Binding Studies of Rohitukine: A Potent Anti-hyperlipidemic Agent.

Abstract

Rohitukine (RH) is a chromone alkaloid considered as one of the major active component of Dysoxylum binectariferum, exhibiting diverse pharmacological activities such as anti-hyperlipidemic, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, immuno-modulatory, anti-leishmanial, anti ulcer and anti-fertility. There's still a lack of information of RH, inclusive of pharmacokinetics, tissue distribution and excretion, in vivo studies in experimental animals, such as hamster and rats. In this study, a selective and sensitive bioanalytical method was developed and validated using HPLC-UV system. The assay was applied to estimate pharmacokinetics, tissue distribution and excretion of RH in hamster at 50 mg/kg oral dose. It rapidly reached systemic circulation and distributed to various tissues, and highest concentration was observed in liver. The pharmacokinetic parameters such as clearance (CL/F) was 3.95±0.9 L/h/kg, volume of distribution (Vd/F) was 17.34±11.34 L/kg and elimination half-life was 2.62±1.34 h. RH shows moderate protein binding ~ 60% and found stable in gastro-intestinal fluid, a property that favors oral administration.