Simple and rapid liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis of arctigenin and its application to a pharmacokinetic study

Arctigenin is the main active ingredient of Fructus Arctii, which has been reported with a variety of therapeutic activities including anti-cancer, anti-inflammation, anti-virus, and anti-obesity effects. In this study, a simple and sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was developed and validated for the determination of arctigenin in rat plasma. The assay utilized a simple protein precipitation with methanol and the mobile phase consisted of 100% methanol and water containing 0.1% formic acid (65:35 v/v). Arctigenin and the internal standard (psoralen) were monitored using a positive electrospray turbo ionspray mode with multiple reaction monitoring transitions of m/z 373.2→136.9 and m/z 187.2→130.9, respectively, and total chromatographic run time was within 5 min. The lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) of arctigenin was 5 ng/mL in the rat plasma. The intra-and inter-day accuracy of arctigenin at LLOQ and matrix-matched quality control samples ranged 97.4-104.8% and 97.2-102.0%, respectively. The intra-day precision was within 4.80% and the interday precision was within 5.92%. Application of the present method was demonstrated through a pharmacokinetic study after intravenous and oral administration of arctigenin in male Sprague Dawley rats.