Liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry method for quantification of trans‐stilbene glycoside in rat plasma and its pharmacokinetic application

Abstract

A rapid and sensitive liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was developed and validated for the quantification of trans-stilbene glycoside (SG) in rat plasma. As trans-SG can be rapidly isomerized under light exposure, trans-SG plasma samples were prepared in the dark and assayed immediately. Trans-SG and internal standard were extracted by protein precipitation. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a C(18) column with a gradient elution program. The detection of analytes was performed by negative ion via multiple reaction monitoring mode. The precursor-to-product ions of m/z 405.1 → 242.9 for trans-SG and m/z 389.1 → 226.9 for polydatin (internal standard) were monitored. No interference of endogenous components was observed for any plasma samples that we studied.The method was linear over the concentration range of 1.0-1000.0 ng/mL with a good correlation coefficient. The lower limit of quantification was 1.0 ng/mL for trans-SG. The intra and inter-batch accuracy for trans-SG in stable rat plasma samples ranged from 93.3 to 102.7% and the variation was less than 8.1%. The extraction recoveries of trans-SG in rat plasma were from 102.8 to 112.4% and the matrix effects were also acceptable. This method was successfully applied to pharmacokinetic study of trans-SG in rats after intravenous administration.