A rapid, sensitive, and selective UPLC-TQ-MS/MS method was established and validated for the determination and pharmacokinetic investigation of rhein, coptisine, berberine, palmatine, baicalin and wogonoside from Sanhuang Xiexin Decoction (SXD) extracts. A Waters BEH C18 UPLC column was used with the mobile phases of Acetonitrile-0.1% formic acid-water. The lower limits of quantification (LLOQ) for rhein, coptisine, berberine, palmatine, baicalin and wogonoside were 24.16, 0.72, 0.68, 0.53, 18.07 and 28.56ng/mL, respectively. All calibration curves displayed good linearity (r2>0.995). The precision was evaluated by intra-day and inter-day assays and the RSD% were all within 9.12%, and the bias of the accuracies ranged from -7.50% to 8.03%. The recovery ranged from 74.83% to 94.32% and the matrix effects of six analytes were found to be between 90.17% and 103.10%. The stability study showed that compounds were stable during the experiment. Finally, the data showed that the pharmacokinetic (PK) profiles (especially AUC, Tmax and Cmax) of six analytes in diabetic rats were significantly diverse from that in normal group rats. The PK study under the pathological condition could provide more helpful information to guide the clinical usage of SXD to treat T2DM.
Keywords: Pharmacokinetics; Sanhuang Xiexin decoction; T2DM; UPLC-TQ-MS/MS.
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