Tissue Distribution Study of Apocynin By RP-HPLC With UV Detector

ABSTRACT

Background Apocynin (4-hydroxy-3-methoxyacetophenone), an important active ingredient contained in root ofPicrorhiza kurroa Royle, has been widely investigated as an antioxidative and anti-inflammatory agent in kinds ofdisease models, and exerted certain efficacy deserving further research. However, little was known about thedisposal process of apocynin in vivo, which is important information required in drug research and development.Aim In this work, a tissue distribution study of apocynin was performed in Sprague-Dawley (SD) male rats to helpfurther understanding well the disposition of apocynin in vivo.Methods A simple HPLC-UV method was developed for measurement of apocynin concentration in rat tissues. Amixture of water-methanol (4753, v/v) was used as solvent system, the flow rate was 1 mL/min, and the detectedwavelength was 279 nm. The method was validated and applied to the tissue distribution study of a single bolusintravenous administration of apocynin in SD male rats.Results The developed HPLC-UV method showed good specificity, precision, accuracy and extraction recovery. Thegood linearity was achieved within 0.8-32 μg/mL in tissues including heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney and brain. Thelower limit of quantification (LLOQ) was 0.8 μg/mL. The method was well used in the study of tissue distribution ofapocynin. The results demonstrated that apocynin was distributed fast into the tested tissues and reached peakconcentration at 5 min after injection. Apocynin was mainly distributed in liver, kidney and lung within 15 minutesafter administration, and eliminated from the tissues with no sample be detected more than 2 h after dose