Determination of Armillarisin A in Rat Plasma by SPE and LC-MS-MS

Abstract

A rapid, sensitive and convenient ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method was developed and validated for the determination of armillarisin A in rat plasma. Following hydrophilic–lipophilic balance solid-phase extraction, armillarisin A and propylparaben (internal standard) were separated using a gradient elution program on a C₁₈ column and detected by mass spectrometry in the negative ion mode with the multiple reaction monitoring mode. The total chromatographic running time was short (1.8 min). The method was linear over the concentration range of 0.5–250.00 ng mL⁻¹ for armillarisin A. The lower limit of quantification of armillarisin A was 0.5 ng mL⁻¹, using as little as 100 μL plasma. The intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviations were less than 15% and the relative errors were all within 10%. The extraction recovery for armillarisin A was approximately 100%, and no absolute matrix effect was observed. Finally, the method was successfully applied to a preclinical pharmacokinetic study of armillarisin A in four rats following an intravenous administration.