Simultaneous determination and pharmacokinetic studies of aloe emodin and chrysophanol in rats after oral administration of Da-Cheng-Qi decoction by high-performance liquid chromatography

A validated high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed for simultaneous determination and pharmacokinetic study of aloe emodin and chrysophanol in rats. It was performed on a reverse-phase C(18) column and a mobile phase made up of methanol and 0.2% acetic acid (83:17, v/v). The ultraviolet detection was 254 nm. 1,8-dihydroxyanthraquinone was used as the internal standard. The assay was linear over the range 28-2800 ng/mL (r(2) = 0.9993) for aloe emodin and 25.6-2560 ng/mL (r(2) = 0.9991) for chrysophanol. The average percentage recoveries of three spiked plasmas were 98.8-104.8% and 97.7-103.2% for aloe emodin and chrysophanol, respectively. Their RSD of intra-day and inter-day precision at concentrations of 56, 280 and 1400 ng/mL for aloe emodin and 51.6, 258 and 1290 ng/mL for chrysophanol were less than 3.5%. This method was applied for the first time to simultaneously determinate aloe emodin and chrysophanol in rats following oral administration of traditional Chinese medicine of Da-Cheng-Qi decoction. The pharmacokinetic parameters showed that chrysophanol was better absorbed with higher concentrations in plasma than aloe emodin did. They both eliminated slowly in male rats. The assay is suitable for identifying the plasma and tissue levels of aloe emodin and chrysophanol in preclinical investigations.