Comparative Study of the Pharmacokinetic Parameters for Salidroside in Normal and Estrogen-Deficient Female Rats after Oral Administration of an Aqueous Extract of Fructus Ligustri Lucidi using a Validated Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry/Mass Spectrometry Method

Background: Salidroside, one of the main active ingredients in Fructus Ligustri Lucidi (FLL), is well demonstrated to exert anti-osteoporotic effect. However, the plasma pharmacokinetic profile of salidroside in FLL in estrogen-deficient rats remains unknown. Objective: The objective was to develop a sensitive, rapid, and accurate ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) method for the determination of the pharmacokinetics profile of salidroside after oral administration of FLL aqueous extract in normal and ovariectomized (OVX) rats. Materials and Methods: OVX and normal rats were orally administrated with FLL at a bolus of 7 g/kg. Plasma samples were precipitated by methanol, and the supernatant was chromatographed by a Waters BEH C-18 column with a gradient elution of ammonium acetate and acetonitrile. Quantification was carried out on the electrospray ionization, positive multiple reaction monitoring modes. Results: The lower limit of detection was 50 ng/mL, and the dynamic linear range was 50-30,000 ng/mL with a value of R-2 > 0.99. The intra- and inter-day precisions were lower than 14.67%, and accuracy was in the range of 99.29%-103.37%. The recovery of salidroside ranged from 88.90% to 101.78%, with the matrix effect ranging from 85.53% to 100.45%. The t 1/2, MRT0-8, and apparent volume of distribution for salidroside increased in OVX rats. Conclusion: A sensitive, accurate, and rapid method was successfully established and validated for the determination of plasma characteristics of salidroside in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. The results suggest that ovariectomy could interfere with salidroside metabolism in SD rats.