title: Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis of protocatechuic aldehyde and its phase I and II metabolites in rat.
abstract: A method using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis was established for the identification of metabolites in rat after oral administration of protocatechuic aldehyde, a major bioactive phenolic acid in the roots of Salvia miltiorrhiza. Eleven metabolites in rat plasma and urine were firstly identified as protocatechuic aldehyde, protocatechuic acid and their methylated, glucuronized or glycine conjugates on the basis of their MS fragmentation behaviors, while nine of these metabolites (except protocatechuic aldehyde and protocatechuic acid) were detected in rat bile. In addition, the possible metabolic pathway was proposed for the first time. In the phase I metabolism, protocatechuic aldehyde could be oxidized to protocatechuic acid. The conjugates would be formed in rat intestine, liver and kidney and excreted from rat urine and bile. Enthrohepatic circulation played an important role in the metabolism of protocatechuic aldehyde. The results proved that the established method was simple, reliable and sensitive, revealing that it could be used to rapid screen and identify the structures of active components responsible for pharmacological effects of protocatechuic aldehyde and to better understand its in vivo metabolism.
authors.affiliation: The State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center, No. 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100083, PR China.
authors.forename: Man
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Zichuan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Shifeng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Jianghao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Aihua
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Dean
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Guo
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000818:Animals; D001547:Benzaldehydes / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000032:analysis* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D002396:Catechols / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000032:analysis* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D001547:Benzaldehydes; D002396:Catechols; C005581:protocatechualdehyde