A Comparative Pharmacokinetic Study Of Ginsenoside Re After Oral Administration In Normal And Ultraviolet B Irradiation-Induced Damage Rats

A methodology of quantitative analysis on ginsenoside Re (G-Re) in rat plasma by ultra performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry was developed for comparing the pharmacokinetic profiles between normal rats and Ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiation-induced damage rats after oral administration. The sample separation was carried out on an Ascentis (R) Express C-18 column (5.0 mmx3.0 mm, 2.7 mu m) with 0.1% formic acid in water and acetonitrile as the mobile phase under gradient elution. MS analysis was operated in multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) mode using electrospray ionization (ESI) with negative ion mode, and the ions for quantification were m/z 991.54/945.53/475.60. The limit of detection (LOD, S/N=3), limit of quantification (LOQ, S/N=10) were 4.0 ng/mL and 13.5 ng/mL, respectively. G-Re was in good linearity between 15 ng/mL and 20000 ng/mL (r=0.999), the intra-day and inter-day precisions, recovery, matrix effect and stability could meet the pharmacokinetic analysis requirement. The results indicated that the metabolic process of G-Re conformed to a two-compartment pharmacokinetic model after single oral administration in the normal and model groups. The t(1/2 alpha) were (0.21 +/- 0.04) h and (0.69 +/- 0.07) h, respectively; t(1/2 beta) were (17.08 +/- 0.53) and (21.40 +/- 16.77) h, respectively; AUC((0-t)) were (321.91 +/- 2.27) mu g/(L.h) and (474.99 +/- 194.96) mu g/(L.h), respectively; AUC((0-infinity)) were (332.44 +/- 1.66) mu g/(L.h) and (518.64 +/- 231.39) mu g/(L.h), respectively; the pharmacokinetic parameters were significantly different between normal and UVB irradiated rats (p<0.05), except for t(1/2 alpha). This UHPLC-QQQ-MS method showed excellent separation, accuracy, high sensitivity, specificity and good repeatability, and it was suitable for the pharmacokinetic study of G-Re in vivo.