A Valid Assay for the Pharmacokinetic Study of Gallic Acid from Choerospondiatis Fructus in Rabbit Plasma by LC/MS/MS

Abstract

Gallic acid (GA), one of the bioactive compounds in Choerospondiatis fructus, was determined in rabbit plasma. The method involved a protein precipitation, a high performance liquid chromatographic separation, and an electrospray ionization ion trap mass spectrometric determination. Plasma samples were extracted by 0.5 mL 1.5% phosphoric acid/acetonitrile(v/v). Chromatographic separation was achieved on a C₁₈ column using a mobile phase of 5.0% acetonitrile/water with 0.2% formic acid (pH 2.2). The calibration curve was linear in the range of 0.5–400 ng · mL⁻¹ for plasma samples. The limit of detection was 200 pg · mL⁻¹. Intra‐and inter‐day coefficients of variation were less than 8.0% and intra‐ and inter‐day accuracies were within ±5.0% of the known concentrations. Finally, this assay was used to study the pharmacokinetics of GA in rabbit plasma following ingestion of Choerospondiatis fructus extracts. The statistical results indicated that the plasma drug concentration time course in rabbit was a 2‐compartment open model.

Keywords:

• Choerospondiatis fructus
• Gallic acid
• Herb medicine
• Pharmacokinetics
• HPLC/MS/MS
• ESI

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30470633, 30270554), External Intercourse and Cooperation Item (No. 30511120267), the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program (No.20050698012) and the Cultivation Fund of the Key Scientific and Technical Innovation Project, Ministry of Education of China (No.705045).