Pharmacokinetics of Dehydroevodiamine Following Intravenous Administration in Rats

ABSTRACT

Dehydroevodiamine (DHED) is one of the bioactive components of the Chinese herbal medicine Wu-chu-yu-tang that has been shown to produce various pharmacological effects. In the present study, we investigated the pharmacokinetics of DHED after intravenous administration of two doses (2.5 and 5 mg/kg) in anesthetized rats. The plasma concentration of DHED was measured by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detection. The mean area under the curve of the time-concentration profile was 21.9 and 53.9 microgram-min/ml after the 2.5- and 5-mg/kg doses, respectively, and the volume of distribution was 1584.9 and 1580.6 ml following 2.5- and 5-mg/kg doses, respectively. Plasma concentration profiles versus time were compatible with a two-compartment model and first-order kinetics. The terminal elimination half-life was 91.8+/-16.6 min and 78.7+/-11.9 min in the dose of 2.5 and 5 mg/kg, respectively. This is the first report to study the pharmacokinetics of DHED in animals.