Quantification of nerolidol in mouse plasma using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

Abstract

Nerolidol is a naturally occurring sesquiterpene found in the essential oils of many types of flowers and plants. It is frequently used in cosmetics, as a food flavoring agent, and in cleaning products. In addition, nerolidol is used as a skin penetration enhancer for transdermal delivery of therapeutic drugs. However, nerolidol is hemolytic at low concentrations. A simple and fast GC–MS method was developed for preliminary quantification and assessment of biological interferences of nerolidol in mouse plasma after oral dosing. Calibration curves were linear in the concentration range of 0.010–5μg/mL nerolidol in mouse plasma with correlation coefficients (r) greater than 0.99. Limits of detection and quantification were 0.0017 and 0.0035μg/mL, respectively. The optimized method was successfully applied to the quantification of nerolidol in mouse plasma.