Abstract
A rapid and sensitive Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography Electrospray Ionization Tandem Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS) method was developed and validated to simultaneously determine the concentration of seven phenolic acids (syringic acid, ferulic acid, caffeic acid, vanillic acid, p-coumaric acid, 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid and 4-hydroxybenzoic acid) in rat plasma after oral administration of Echinacea purpurea extract. After mixing with the internal standard (IS), butylparaben, plasma samples were prepared by liquid–liquid extraction with ethyl acetate. The separation was performed using the Agilent Eclipse Plus C18 column (1.8 μm, 2.1 mm × 50 mm) with a gradient system consisting of solution A (0.1% acetic acid in water) and solution B (methanol) at a flow rate of 0.3 mL/min. The detection was accomplished by a multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode with electrospray ionization (ESI). The method was validated in terms of linearity, precision, accuracy, extraction recovery, matrix effect and stability. This method was successfully applied to study the pharmacokinetic properties of the seven compounds after oral administration of Echinacea purpurea extract in rats.
Highlights
Echinacea purpurea (E. purpurea) is a perennial herb that belongs to the Asteraceae family, and it is native to North America
Because of the hydrophilic properties of phenolic acids, a reverse phase system was used for the method development
Acetic acid and ammonium acetate were tested by adding them into the water mobile phase in order to improve the peak shape and enhance the sensitivity of the analytes in negative ionization mode
Summary
Echinacea purpurea (E. purpurea) is a perennial herb that belongs to the Asteraceae family, and it is native to North America. It has become one of the most popular herbal medicines in the international herbal market. A number of researchers are focused on its pharmacological activities, such as immunomodulatory activity, as it is shown to be effective in the prevention and treatment of the common cold, coughs, bronchitis, and respiratory infections [3,4] It has exhibited strong anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-oxidant, anti-carcinogenic, anti-inflammatory and wound healing effects [5,6]
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