Nine absorbed components pharmacokinetic of raw and processed Moutan Cortex in normal and blood-heat and hemorrhage syndrome model rats

Raw Moutan Cortex (RMC) and Processed Moutan Cortex (PMC) have been used in China and other Asian countries for a long historical standing. In this study, a rapid and accurate Ultra -High -Pressure Liquid Chromatography coupled with Diode Array Detector (UHPLC-DAD) method was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of nine absorbed compounds of RMC/PMC. After extraction by protein precipitation with methanol from plasma, the analytes were separated on an Acquity UPLC® BEH Shield RP18 Column (2.1mm × 100 mm, 1.7μm, Waters, USA). Acetonitrile (A) and 0.1% (v/v) formic acid in water (B) were selected as mobile phase to perform gradient elution. The linearity of nine analytes was >0.9915. The intra- and inter-assay precision (RSD) values were within 11.18%, and accuracy ranged from 91.32% to 101.29%. Stable, matrix effect and suitable extraction recoveries were also obtained. The validated method was applied to compare the pharmacokinetics of RMC and PMC in Blood-Heat and Hemorrhage Syndrome Model (BHH) and normal rats respectively. The results revealed that processing and the pathological state could influence the pharmacokinetic characteristics of compounds in RMC/PMC. The study would be useful for further studies on pharmacokinetics and clinical application of raw and processed Moutan Cortex.

Keywords: Raw and processed Moutan Cortex; UHPLC-DAD; blood-heat and hemorrhage syndrome; pharmacokinetic.