LC-MS/MS Analysis of Puerarin and 18β-Glycyrrhetinic acid in Human Plasma After Oral Administration of Samso-eum and its Application to Pharmacokinetic Study.

The aim of this study was to confirm pharmacokinetic screening of multiple components in healthy Korean subjects after oral administration of Samso-eum and perform quantitation of active components in the human plasma. Thirteen potential bioactive components [puerarin (PRR), daidzin, nodakenin, ginsenoside Rb1, 18 beta-glycyrrhetinic acid (18 beta-GTA), 6-shogaol, naringin, glycyrrhizin, hesperidin, platycodin D, naringenin, hesperetin, and 6-gingerol] were screened based on literature. The results showed that three analytes (daidzin, naringenin, and hesperetin) were detected in trace amounts. In addition, PRR and 18 beta-GTA were detected in human plasma after the oral administration of Samso-eum. In this study, a liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry method was validated for the simultaneous determination of PRR and 18 beta-GTA in human plasma. This was the first study to evaluate pharmacokinetics of PRR and 18 beta-GTA after the usual oral dose of Samso-eum (30 g containing 102.48 mg PRR, 48.18 mg glycyrrhizin) in human subjects.