title: Simultaneous determination of triptolide and its prodrug MC002 in dog blood by LC-MS/MS and its application in pharmacokinetic studies.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Tripterygium wilfordii HOOK F (TWHF) is a traditional Chinese medicine used in the treatment of various autoimmune diseases and inflammatory disorders including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and skin diseases. Triptolide (TP) is one of the main active ingredients of this traditional Chinese medicine. MC002 is a novel semi-synthetic derivate of TP which is highly water soluble, acts as a prodrug and is converted to TP in vivo.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  A sensitive, rapid method for the simultaneous determination of TP and its chemo-unstable prodrug MC002 in dog blood was developed and validated using electrospray ionization (ESI) liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Using this method, a pharmacokinetic study of MC002 and TP following an intravenous drip infusion of 0.2mg/kg MC002 in dogs was performed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Chemo-degradation of the prodrug in blood samples was inhibited by the addition of a small amount of sodium fluoride solution before using liquid-liquid extraction with ethyl acetate. The concentrations of MC002 and TP in dog blood were determined using the LC-MS/MS method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The quantitative method showed good precision and stability and is suitable for the assay of biological samples. The pharmacokinetic study showed that the elimination of MC002 was faster than that of TP, and the concentrations and AUC0-t values of TP were higher than MC002. MC002 can rapidly convert to TP in vivo.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This validated method was successfully applied in a pharmacokinetic study of MC002 following an intravenous drip infusion in dogs. With the development of this new prodrug of TP as a promising anti-cancer drug, this method is suitable for its further analysis in clinical studies.
authors.affiliation: Key Lab of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics, Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, No. 27 Taiping Road, Beijing 100850, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Mei
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Zhuang
authors.forename: Ping-Xia
authors.initials: PX
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yu-Jie
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Chang-Kun
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Zhen-Qing
authors.initials: ZQ
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000097:blood*; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000097:blood* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D004224:Diterpenes / Q000097:blood* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D004285:Dogs; D004852:Epoxy Compounds / Q000097:blood / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D005260:Female; D005998:Glycine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D008297:Male; D010616:Phenanthrenes / Q000097:blood* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D011355:Prodrugs / Q000032:analysis* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry
chemical_list: D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D004224:Diterpenes; D004852:Epoxy Compounds; C588400:MC002 compound; D010616:Phenanthrenes; D011355:Prodrugs; C001899:triptolide; D005998:Glycine
keywords: LC–MS/MS; Pharmacokinetics; Prodrug; Triptolide