Chromatographic Tandem Mass Spectrometric Detection of Physostigmine and its Major Metabolites in Rat Urine

Abstract

A rapid, sensitive, and specific liquid chromatographic‐electrospray ionization (ESI) tandem ion trap mass spectrometric method has been developed for identification of physostigmine and its metabolites in rat urine. 300 µg kg^–1 of physostigmine were used as a safe oral gavage dose for studies on its metabolites. 0–24 h urine was purified using a C18 solid‐phase extraction cartridge, and then detected by an on‐line MS detector. Identification and structural elucidation of the metabolites were performed by comparing their MSⁿ spectra with physostigmine. Six metabolites and unchanged physostigmine existed in rat urine. All of the metabolites were reported for the first time.

Keywords:

• Physostigmine
• ESI‐MSⁿ
• rat
• urine

This paper was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30630075) and the Natural Science Foundation of Ministry‐of Education Key Laboratory for the Synthesis and Application of Organic Functional Molecules in Hubei University. The authors would like to thank their colleagues for their valuable technical assistance.