An UHPLC-MS/MS method for simultaneous determination of quercetin 3-O-rutinoside, kaempferol 3-O-rutinoside, isorhamnetin 3-O-rutinoside, bilobalide and ligustrazine in rat plasma, and its application to pharmacokinetic study of Xingxiong injection.

The present study was designed to develop and validate a rapid, sensitive, and reliable ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) method for the simultaneous determination of five major active constituents in the traditional Chinese medicinal preparation Xingxiong injection (XXI) in rat plasma, including quercetin 3-O-rutinoside (QCR), kaempferol 3-O-rutinoside (KFR), isorhamnetin 3-O-rutinoside (ISR), bilobalide (BB), and ligustrazine (LGT). The plasma samples were pretreated by protein precipitation with acetonitrile. The chromatographic separation was achieved on a Waters Symmetry C18 analytical column (2.1 mm × 100 mm, 3.5 µm) with a mobile phase of 0.1% aqueous formic acid (A)-acetonitrile (B). Quantitation of the five bioactive constituents was achieved. Naringin was used as the internal standard (IS). All the calibration curves showed good linearity (r > 0.996) over the concentration range, with the lowest limit of quantification (LLOQ) between 2-18 ng·mL-1. The intra- and inter-day accuracy and precision of the analytes were both within acceptable limits. Moreover, satisfactory extraction recoveries (90.92%-104.03%) were obtained by protein precipitation. The validated method was successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study of XXI in rats after intravenous administration at three doses. The pharmacokinetic parameters of the five compounds varied in a dose-dependent manner within the tested dosage range. The present study was the first report of pharmacokinetic study for XXI.

Development of a sensitive LC-MS/MS method for the determination of bilobalide in rat plasma with special consideration of ex vivo bilobalide stability: application to a preclinical pharmacokinetic study.

The ex vivo instability of bilobalide containing three γ-lactone rings has been paid less attention by researchers who developed bioanalytical methods for bilobalide. In the present study, a sensitive LC-MS/MS method for the determination of bilobalide in rat plasma was developed with special consideration of ex vivo bilobalide stability. Several important factors affecting the stability of bilobalide in sampling and handling procedures were investigated. To prevent the ex vivo degradation of bilobalide, EDTA instead of heparin was used as an anticoagulant as well as an esterase inhibitor for blood collection and the separation of plasma was performed at 4 °C. 20 µL of plasma sample was acidified with 0.1 M hydrochloric acid, and then extracted with ethyl ether-methylene chloride (2:1, v/v). The extract was chromatographed on a Thermo Hypersil GOLD (100 mm × 2.1 mm, 5 µm) column using acetonitrile-10mM ammonium acetate-formic acid (90:10:0.4, v/v/v) as the mobile phase. The analyte and the internal standard (ginkgolide B) were detected by selected reaction monitoring mode via negative electrospray ionization. The method was fully validated and proved to be linear over a concentration range of 5.0-5000 ng/mL. The intra- and inter-day precisions were less than 5.2% and the accuracy was within 92.5-101%. The extraction recoveries ranged from 80.7% to 86.7%. The proposed method was successfully applied to a preclinical pharmacokinetic study of bilobalide in rats after intragastric administration of a single dose of bilobalide at 7, 14 and 28 mg/kg.