An UPLC-MS/MS method for determination of vicenin-2 and lychnopholic acid in rat plasma and its application to a pharmacokinetic study

Abstract

Vicenin-2 (VIC) and lychnopholic acid (LA) are present in large amounts in hydroalcoholic extract from leaves of Lychnophora salicifolia, commonly known in the Brazilian Cerrado as "arnicão", a plant applied as topic anti-inflammatory and as a flavoring agent for the traditional spirit (cachaça). A new ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was developed and validated for quantification of LA and VIC in plasma samples in order to evaluate their pharmacokinetic profiles in rats. The method was linear in the range of 10-2500 ng mL-1, acceptable precision accuracies were obtained and no significant matrix effect was observed. The validated method was successfully applied to pharmacokinetic study. LA presented very low t1/2 (half-time), high Cl (serum clearance) and Vd (volume of distribution), and for VIC, the t1/2 value was slightly larger, but still rather low, whereas Cl and Vd values were slightly lower, indicating that both substances are instantaneous and well distributed in the body, and quickly eliminated.