title: GC-MS method for determination and pharmacokinetic study of four phenylpropanoids in rat plasma after oral administration of the essential oil of Acorus tatarinowii Schott rhizomes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Acorus tatarinowii Schott (AT), belong to the family Araceae, is perennial herbaceous plant mainly present in China, Japan and India. The rhizomes of AT have been used as a famous traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of central nervous system related diseases.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  A selective, accurate and sensitive method using gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) for the simultaneous determination and pharmacokinetic study of β-asarone, α-asarone, elemicin and cis-methyl isoeugenol in rat plasma was developed and validated.
  
  
  METHODS
  The GC-MS system was operated under selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode. The samples were prepared by protein precipitation with acetonitrile after being spiked with an internal standard (1-naphthol). The GC separation was achieved on a DB-1701 column (60 m × 0.25 mm ID, and 0.25 µm film thickness).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The current GC/MS assay was validated for linearity, intra-day and inter-day precisions, accuracy, extraction recovery and stability. The analyte calibration curves were linear over a wide concentration range and the lowest limit of quantifications (LLOQ) were 5.53 ng/mL (β-asarone), 6.50 ng/mL (α-asarone), 3.10 ng/mL (elemicin) and 7.60 ng/mL (cis-methyl isoeugenol). After oral administration 0.9 g /Kg of AT rhizomes, the maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) was 2508.6±498.7 ng/mL for β-asarone, 257.5±37.1 ng/mL for α -asarone, 345.5±33.4 ng/mL for elemicin and 452.7±59.1 ng/mL for cis-methyl isoeugenol, respectively. The time to reach the maximum plasma concentration (Tmax) was 1.42±0.18 h for β-asarone, 1.58±0.19 h for α -asarone, 1.67±0.24 h for elemicin and 1.75±0.38 h for cis-methyl isoeugenol, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This paper described a simple, sensitive and validated GC-MS method for simultaneous determination of four phenylpropanoids in rat plasma after oral administration of the essential oil of AT rhizomes and investigated on their pharmacokinetics studies as well.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Chinese Materia Medica (Ministry of Education), Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, 24 Heping Road, Xiangfang District, Harbin 150040, PR China; Department of Pharmaceutics, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 160 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA.
authors.forename: Zhibin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Chinese Materia Medica (Ministry of Education), Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, 24 Heping Road, Xiangfang District, Harbin 150040, PR China.
authors.forename: Qiuhong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Chinese Materia Medica (Ministry of Education), Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, 24 Heping Road, Xiangfang District, Harbin 150040, PR China.
authors.forename: Bingyou
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Chinese Materia Medica (Ministry of Education), Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, 24 Heping Road, Xiangfang District, Harbin 150040, PR China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutics, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 160 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA; College of Pharmacy, Harbin Medical University, 157 Baojian Road, Nangang District. Harbin 150081, PR China.
authors.forename: Chunjuan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Chinese Materia Medica (Ministry of Education), Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, 24 Heping Road, Xiangfang District, Harbin 150040, PR China.
authors.forename: Yonghai
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Chinese Materia Medica (Ministry of Education), Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, 24 Heping Road, Xiangfang District, Harbin 150040, PR China. Electronic address: hxkuang@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Haixue
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kuang
mesh_terms: D029023:Acorus / Q000737:chemistry*; D000284:Administration, Oral; D000081248:Allylbenzene Derivatives; D000818:Animals; D000840:Anisoles / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D009822:Oils, Volatile / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D011748:Pyrogallol / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D027343:Rhizome
chemical_list: D000081248:Allylbenzene Derivatives; D000840:Anisoles; D009822:Oils, Volatile; C012195:asarone; D011748:Pyrogallol; C031050:isomethyleugenol; C002135:elemicin
keywords: Acorus tatarinowii Schott; GC–MS; Pharmacokinetics; Phenylpropanoids; Rat plasma