Simultaneous quantification of loureirin A and loureirin B in rat urine, feces, and bile by HPLC-MS/MS method and its application to excretion study

Anal Bioanal Chem. 2011 May;400(4):1181-7. doi: 10.1007/s00216-011-4868-8. Epub 2011 Mar 24.

Abstract

A simple HPLC-MS/MS method for simultaneous determination of loureirin A and loureirin B in rat urine, feces, and bile after oral administration of 10.6 g/kg of longxuejie (one rare traditional Chinese medicinal herb) was developed for the first time. The analytes and buspirone (internal standard) were separated on a C(5) column with acetonitrile-water (containing 0.1% formic acid) as mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.4 min/mL. The detector was a Q-trap™ mass spectrometer with an electrospray ionization interface operating in the multiple reaction monitoring mode. Calibration curves of loureirin A in rat urine, feces, and bile were linear over the concentration range of 1.00-5,000 ng/mL. Loureirin B in rat urine, feces, and bile ranged between 0.08 and 20, 0.20 and 20, and 0.10 and 500 ng/mL, respectively. Validation revealed that the method was specific, accurate, and precise. The fully validated method was applied to the excretion study of loureirin A and loureirin B in rats. After oral administration of 10.6 g/kg longxuejie, cumulative excretion amount of loureirin A and loureirin B in rat urine were 2.94 ± 0.81 and 0.36 ± 0.16 μg at 72 h, respectively. Of the total dose, 5.35% of loureirin A and 5.46% of loureirin B were excreted from feces at 60 h. The cumulative amounts of loureirin A and loureirin B in rat bile reached 4.49 ± 0.98 and 5.11 ± 0.83 μg, respectively, at 36 h after dosing, accounting for 0.054% and 0.056% of the total dose.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bile / chemistry
  • Chalcones / analysis*
  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / methods*
  • Feces / chemistry
  • Herbal Medicine
  • Rats
  • Resins, Plant / analysis*
  • Tandem Mass Spectrometry / methods*
  • Urine / chemistry

Substances

  • Chalcones
  • Resins, Plant
  • loureirin A
  • loureirin B