Ferruginol, a diterpene phenol, has recently received attention for its extensive pharmacological properties, including anti-tumor, antibacterial, cardio-protective and gastroprotective effects. In the present study, a high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method was developed for determination of ferruginol in rat plasma and applied for the pharmacokinetics study. The HPLC assay was performed with a VP ODS-C(18) column. The mobile phaseconsisted of methanol and 1% acetic acid solution (90:10, v/v). The flow rate was 1.0 mL/min, and the wavelength was set at 270 nm. This method was linear over the studied range of 0.1-10.0 microg/mL( )for ferruginol. The correlation coefficient was 0.9998. The intra-day and inter-day precisions were better than 4 and 5%, respectively. The extraction recovery and accuracy were greater than 97 and 96%, respectively. The detection limit was 30 ng/mL. The mean maximum concentration of ferruginol in rat plasma was 3.14 microg/mL at 40 min after oral administration at a dose of 20 mg/kg. Ferruginol was absorbed quickly p.o. with t(1/2)ka = 14.86 min and had a high rate of elimination with t(1/2) = 41.73 min. The pharmacokinetic process of ferruginol in rat was well described with a one-compartment model.

Five resinous incense materials excavated from the underground palace of Bao'en Temple, Nanjing, were studied by a multianalytical approach of near infrared, midinfrared, and Fourier transform Raman spectroscopies. By comparing the multispectroscopic features of five specimens, these incense materials were identified to the same substance. Subsequent analysis and comparison of the ancient incense materials and three modern reference specimens were carried out, and the results indicated that the excavated incense materials were frankincense, with its major component of triterpenoids. This work performs, for the first time, a comprehensive spectroscopic study for the Chinese excavated incense materials, demonstrating that a combined use of near infrared, midinfrared, and Fourier transform Raman spectroscopies is an efficient technique to identify an excavated incense.