Pharmacokinetic properties of isorhamnetin, kaempferol and quercetin after oral gavage of total flavones of Hippophae rhamnoides L. in rats using a UPLC-MS method

An ultra performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometric (UPLC-MS) method was developed to investigate the pharmacokinetic properties of isorhamnetin, kaempferol and quercetin from a total flavone extract of Hippophae rhamnoides L. (TFH) after single dose oral administration. Rat plasma samples were pretreated using liquid-liquid extraction, and chromatographic separation was performed on a C₁₈ column using a linear gradient of methanol and formic acid (0.1%). The pharmacokinetic parameters of isorhamnetin, kaempferol and quercetin from TFH in rats were quantitatively determined by UPLC with photodiode array detection (PDA). The qualitative detection of the three flavones was accomplished by selected ion monitoring in negative ion mode ESI-MS. Results of the pharmacokinetic study indicate that the three flavones in TFH were absorbed by passive diffusion in rats, and no “double-peak” phenomenon was observed in C-t curves of the three flavones from TFH except for quercetin. Results of this study indicate that the pharmacokinetic behaviors of isorhamnetin, kaempferol and quercetin when administered together in a complex herbal extract might be different than the individual behaviors of the same compounds administered in their pure forms. Results of this study also demonstrate that UPLC-MS is a rapid and practical method to determine the pharmacokinetic parameters of flavones present in an herbal extract.