Comparison of pharmacokinetics of phytoecdysones and triterpenoid saponins of monomer, crude and processed Radix Achyranthis Bidentatae by UHPLC-MS/MS

Abstract

1. The aim of this study was to develop a selective, rapid, accurate and sensitive ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) method for pharmacokinetic (PK) studies of phytoecdysones and triterpenoid saponins after oral administration of five monomers, crude, wine-processed and salt-processed Radix Achyranthis bidentatae (RAB).

2. A Thermo Hypersil GOLD C18 column (100 mm × 2.1 mm, 1.9 μm) coupled with a mobile phase of (A) acetonitrile and (B) water (both containing 0.3% acetic acid) was used for sample separation. The mass analysis was performed in a triple quadruple mass spectrometer using selected reaction monitoring (SRM) with negative scan mode.

3. The results showed that this method exhibited desirable sensitivity, precision, stability and repeatability. The extraction recoveries of the compounds ranged from 94.2 to 99.8% and the matrix effects ranged from 93.3 to 100.5%. Comparing the C_max and AUC of five analytes in those groups showed this tendency: salt-processed RAB > wine-processed RAB > crude RAB > monomer group. The results confirmed the feasibility of TCM theory to enhance the efficacy of processed RAB.

Keywords:

• Radix Achyranthis bidentatae
• pharmacokinetics
• UHPLC-MS/MS
• monomers
• wine processing
• salt processing

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This project was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 81803690]; the Innovative Talents Funding of Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine [grant number 2018RCD25]; the Heilongjiang Postdoctoral Innovation Foundation [grant number LBH-Z10020]; the Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine Doctoral Innovation Foundation [grant number 2013bs04]; the Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province [grant number H201324]; the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China [grant number 20132327120003]; the Heilongjiang Postdoctoral Scientific Research Developmental Fund [grant number LBH-Q16210]; the University Nursing Program for Young Scholars with Creative Talents in Heilongjiang Province [grant number UNPYSCT-2017219].