LC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous quantification of luteolin, wedelolactone and apigenin in mice plasma using hansen solubility parameters for liquid-liquid extraction: Application to pharmacokinetics of Eclipta alba chloroform fraction

摘要

Eclipta alba(Bhringraj) in ayurveda has been widely used as a traditional medicine for its multi-therapeutic properties for ages. Luteolin (LTL), wedelolactone (WDL) and apigenin (APG) are the three main bioactive phytochemicals present inEclipta albaextract. However there was a lack of sensitive bioanalytical method for the pharmacokinetics of these free compounds in plasma which majorly contributes for their activities after oral administration ofEclipta alba. The present study aims to develop a sensitive, rapid and reliable liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for the simultaneous estimation of mice plasma concentrations of LTL, WDL and APG using quercetin as an internal standard for the pharmacokinetic analysis. Analytes were separated on Phenomenex Luna C18 (150?×?4.6?mm, 3.0?μm) column with mobile phase containing methanol: acetonitrile (90: 10, v/v) and 0.1% formic acid in 10?mM ammonium formate buffer in the ratio of 70: 30 (v/v) in isocratic mode. Liquid-liquid extraction was optimized using Hansen solubility parameters and diethyl ether finalized as an extraction solvent for the recovery ranging from 61 to 76% for all analytes in mice plasma. The validated method has an accuracy and precision over the linearity range of 0.1–200?ng/mL with a correlation coefficient (r2) of ≥0.997. The intra and inter-day assay accuracy was between 98.17 and 107% and 95.83–107.89% respectively and the intra and inter day assay precision ranged from 0.37–6.05% and 1.85–10.76%, respectively for all the analytes. This validated method can be used for future clinical investigation studies ofEclipta albaextracts.