title: An ultra high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry method for plasma and cerebrospinal fluid pharmacokinetics of rhein in patients with traumatic brain injury after administration of rhubarb decoction.
abstract: Damage of blood-brain barrier is a common result of traumatic brain injury. This damage can open the blood-brain barrier and allow drug passage. An ultraperformance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry method was established to determine the concentration of rhein in the biofluids (plasma and cerebrospinal fluid) of patients with a compromised blood-brain barrier following traumatic brain injury after rhubarb administration. Furthermore, the pharmacokinetic profiles were analyzed. A triple-quadruple tandem mass spectrometer with electrospray ionization was used for rhein detection. The mass transition followed was m/z 283.06→239.0. The calibration curve was linear in the concentration range of 10-8000 ng/mL for the biofluids. The intra- and interday precisions were less than 10%. The relative standard deviation of recovery was less than 15% in biological matrices. The pharmacokinetic data showed that rhein was rapidly transported into biofluids, and exhibited a peak concentration 1 h after rhubarb administration. The elimination rate of rhein was slow. The AUCcerebrospinal fluid /AUCplasma (AUC is area under curve) of rhein was approximately 17%, indicating that portions of rhein could pass the impaired blood-brain barrier. The method was successfully applied to quantify rhein in the biofluids of all patients. The data presented can help to guide clinical applications of rhubarb for treating traumatic brain injury.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Ethnopharmacology, Institute of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, PR China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Jiekun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Zhihua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.forename: Zian
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Weijun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Wenzhu
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Huiying
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Yizeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Lunzhao
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.forename: Hongmei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000880:Anthraquinones / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019540:Area Under Curve; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D012250:Rheum; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D000880:Anthraquinones; C020491:rhein
keywords: Blood-brain barrier; Pharmacokinetics; Rhubarb; Traumatic brain injury; Ultra high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry