Simultaneous Determination of Five Components in Rat Plasma by UPLC–MS/MS and Its Application to a Comparative Pharmacokinetic Study in Baihe Zhimu Tang and Zhimu Extract
Guolong Li,
Zhishu Tang,
Jie Yang,
Jinao Duan,
Dawei Qian,
Jianming Guo,
Zhenhua Zhu,
Hongbo Liu
Affiliations
Guolong Li
Shaanxi Collaborative Innovation Center of Chinese Medicinal Resource Industrialization, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang 712046, China
Zhishu Tang
Shaanxi Collaborative Innovation Center of Chinese Medicinal Resource Industrialization, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang 712046, China
Jie Yang
Shaanxi Collaborative Innovation Center of Chinese Medicinal Resource Industrialization, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang 712046, China
Jinao Duan
Shaanxi Collaborative Innovation Center of Chinese Medicinal Resource Industrialization, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang 712046, China
Dawei Qian
Shaanxi Collaborative Innovation Center of Chinese Medicinal Resource Industrialization, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang 712046, China
Jianming Guo
Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization, and National and Local Collaborative Engineering Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization and Formulae Innovative Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, China
Zhenhua Zhu
Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization, and National and Local Collaborative Engineering Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization and Formulae Innovative Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, China
Hongbo Liu
Shaanxi Collaborative Innovation Center of Chinese Medicinal Resource Industrialization, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang 712046, China
Baihe Zhimu Tang (BZT) is a famous traditional Chinese medicine recipe to treat dry coughing due to yin deficiency and for moisturizing the lungs. Zhimu is an essential ingredient in BZT used to treat inflammation, fever and diabetes. The most important active components in Zhimu are flavonoids such as neomangiferin, mangiferin, and steroid saponins (e.g., timosaponin BII, anemarsaponin BIII, timosaponin AIII). The aim of this study was to compare the pharmacokinetics of mangiferin, neomangiferin, timosaponin BII, anemarsaponin BIII and timosaponin AIII in rat plasma after oral administration of BZT and Zhimu extract (ZME). A sensitive, reliable and robust LC-MS/MS method to simultaneously determine steroid saponins and flavonoids in rat plasma was successfully validated. Significant differences (p < 0.05) were found in the pharmacokinetic parameters of timosaponin BII, anemarsaponin BIII and timosaponin AIII between BZT and ZME. It was surmised that formula compatibility could significantly influence the pharmacokinetics of BZT and our study is the first to study the administration of BZT based on pharmacokinetic studies.
