title: Gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric analysis of perillyl alcohol and metabolites in plasma.
abstract: Perillyl alcohol (POH), a metabolite of d-limonene and a component of the lavender oil, is currently in Phase I clinical trials both as a chemopreventative and chemotherapeutic agent. In vivo, POH is metabolized to less active perillic acid (PA) and cis- and trans-dihydroperillic acids [DHPA, 4-(1'-methylethenyl)-cyclohexane-1-carboxylic acid]. Previous pharmacokinetic studies using a GC-MS method detected POH metabolites but not POH itself; thus these studies lacked information on the parent drug. The present report describes a sensitive GC-MS method for the quantitation of POH and metabolites using stable-isotopically labeled internal standards. The residue obtained from CH2Cl2 extraction of a plasma sample was silylated. The products were separated on a capillary column and analyzed by an ion-trap GC-MS using NH3 chemical ionization. POH-d3 was used as the internal standard for POH while 13C-PA-d2 was used as the internal standards for the metabolites. The quantitation limits for POH, PA, cis- and trans-DPA were <10 ng/ml using 1-2 ml plasma. The assay was validated in rat and human plasma. The assay was linear from 2 to 2000 ng/ml for POH, 10 to 1000 ng/ml for PA and trans-DHPA, and 20 to 1000 ng/ml for cis-DHPA monitored. The within-run and between-run coefficients of variation were all <8%. Preliminary pharmacokinetic data from a rat following i.v. administration of POH at 23 mg/kg and from a patient receiving POH at 500 mg/m2 p.o. was also provided. Intact POH, PA, cis- and trans-DHPA were all detected in plasma in both cases. Two new major metabolites were found in human and one in the rat plasma.
authors.affiliation: College of Pharmacy, Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: K K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Budd
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ganapathi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D039821:Monoterpenes; D051381:Rats; D012015:Reference Standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013729:Terpenes / Q000097:blood* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics
chemical_list: D039821:Monoterpenes; D013729:Terpenes; C032208:perillyl alcohol