Simultaneous determination of hypericin and hyperforin in human plasma with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci. 2004 Dec 25;813(1-2):27-33. doi: 10.1016/j.jchromb.2004.09.061.

Abstract

A selective and sensitive method for the simultaneous determination of hypericin and hyperforin--the two main active ingredients of St. John's Wort (SJW) extract--in human plasma depending on liquid/liquid-extraction and LC/MS/MS detection has been developed, validated after specifying the stability of the photosensitive hypericin in plasma samples during light exposure and applied to samples of a patient. After extraction with ethyl acetate/n-hexane in the darkness, sample extracts were chromatographed isocratically within 6 min on a Kromasil RP-18 column. The analytes were detected with tandem mass spectrometry in the selected reaction monitoring mode using an electrospray ion source. The limit of quantification was 0.05 ng/mL for hypericin and 0.035 ng/mL for hyperforin. The accuracy of the method varied between 101.9 and 114.2% and the precision ranged from 4.7 to 15.4% (S.D., batch-to-batch) for both analytes. The method was linear at least between 0.05 and 10 ng/mL for hypericin and between 0.035 and 100 ng/mL for hyperforin. Using this method hypericin and hyperforin were determined successfully in a patient over seven days following discontinuation of exposure with therapeutic doses of St. John's Wort extract.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Anthracenes
  • Bridged Bicyclo Compounds / blood*
  • Calibration
  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / methods*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Perylene / analogs & derivatives*
  • Perylene / blood*
  • Phloroglucinol / analogs & derivatives*
  • Phloroglucinol / blood*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization / methods*
  • Terpenes / blood*

Substances

  • Anthracenes
  • Bridged Bicyclo Compounds
  • Terpenes
  • Perylene
  • hypericin
  • Phloroglucinol
  • hyperforin