Comparative pharmacokinetics of five primary constituents in Huai-hua powder: a study on normal rats and rats with ulcerative colitis

ObjectivesThe goal of this research was to develop a fast, reliable, and sensitive method to simultaneously quantify five key components of Huai-hua Powder (HHP) in rat plasma with genistein served as the internal standard. Furthermore, the established method was used to perform a comparative evaluation of the pharmacokinetic properties of HHP in normal rats and rats with ulcerative colitis (UC).MethodsChromatographic separation was conducted using an ACQUITY HSS T3 column held at a constant temperature of 35°C, with acetonitrile and a 0.1% formic acid solution in water employed as the mobile phases. Multiple-reaction monitoring facilitated MS operation in positive-negative-ion-switching mode. The method’s validation demonstrated exceptional linearity (with a correlation coefficient of r ≥ 0.9970), and the validation tests, encompassing precision within and between days, accuracy, recovery, matrix effect, and stability; all met the predefined acceptable criteria.Key findingsThe results revealed significant variations in the pharmacokinetic characteristics of the five components between normal and UC rats, suggesting altered drug metabolism rates and extents in the latter group.ConclusionsThese findings offer crucial scientific insights into the potential clinical application of HHP, particularly in the context of treating UC.