Determination of Tectorigenin in Rat Plasma: Application to a Pharmacokinetic Study After Oral Administration of Tectorigenin or Its Prodrug Tectoridin

A simple, sensitive, and validated liquid chromatographic method has been developed for the determination of tectorigenin in rat plasma and application to a pharmacokinetic study after oral administration of tectorigenin or its prodrug tectoridin. The analysis was performed on a Kromasil C₁₈ analytical column using gradient elution with acetonitrile 0.1% phosphonic acid water at 0.8 mL min⁻¹. The detection wavelength for UV detection was set at 264 nm. The established method was fully validated with parameters as follows: the intra- and inter-day assay precisions (CV) of three analytes were in the range of 4.2–13.3% and accuracies were between 98.0 and 107.5%; the calibration curve was linear with r ² > 0.99 over a concentration range of 0.02–2 μg mL⁻¹; the lower limit of quantification was 0.02 μg mL⁻¹; tectorigenin showed stable in rat plasma after 12 h incubation at room temperature, 15 days storage at −80 °C and three freeze/thaw cycles, as well as in reconstitute buffer for 24 h at 25 °C; and the mean recoveries of tectorigenin were 92.3 ± 3.2, 95.5 ± 2.9 and 94.5 ± 3.0% with quality control levels of 0.02, 0.2 and 2 μg mL⁻¹, respectively. In conclusion, this method is simple, economic, and sensitive enough for in vivo pharmacokinetic studies of tectorigenin.