Simultaneous determination of capilliposide B and capilliposide C in rat plasma by LC–MS/MS and its application to a PK study

Abstract

Background:Lysimachia capillipes Hemsl (Primulaceae), a folk medicinal plant in China, showed significant anti-tumor activity in recent studies. A reliable LC–MS/MS method was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of capilliposide B and capilliposide C, the major bioactive components in this plant, in rat plasma. Results: Rat plasma and whole blood samples were pretreated with dichlorvos, an esterase inhibitor, minimizing degradation of analytes in biological samples. The method validation was conducted over the curve range of 10.0 to 5000 ng/ml for both analytes. The intra- and inter-day precision and accuracy of the QC samples showed ≤6.1% RSD and 1.3–3.7% relative error. Conclusion: The method was successfully applied to determine the concentrations of capilliposide B and capilliposide C in incurred rat plasma samples, after administration of Lysimachia capillipes Hemsl extract for a rat PK study.