Determination of progesterone and its main metabolite in rat plasma and uterus using HPLC / 药学学报

ABSTRACT

<p><b>AIM</b>To quantify progesterone (P) and one of its metabolites 20alpha-hydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (20alpha-OHP) in rat plasma and uterus after im administration of progesterone.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Plasma and uterus samples were prepared by liquid-liquid extraction and separated through Shimadzu VP-ODS column (150 mm x 4.6 mm ID, 5 microm). The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile and water (60 40, adjusted to pH 4.0 with phosphoric acid). The detector was set at 240 nm. Norgestrel was used as the internal standard.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Cmax of P in plasma was (508 +/- 62) microg x L(-1), Tmax was (3.2 +/- 0.4) h, T1/2 (ke) was (10 +/- 4) h and mean AUC0-48h was (5886 +/- 1573) microg x L(-1) x h. The maximum concentration of P in uterus was (1.7 +/- 1.1) microg x g(-1) and the peak time was (5.2 +/- 1.11) h. 20alpha-OHP showed a similar Tmax with P.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The method is accurate and convenient. It can be used to determine P and its main metabolite 20alpha-OHP simultaneously for studying their preclinical pharmacokinetics.</p>