A Highly Sensitive LC-MS/MS method for the Determination of Polyphyllin V In Beagle Dog Plasma: a Useful Tool for Pharmacokinetic Study

A highly sensitive, rapid assay method has been developed and validated for the analysis of polyphyllin V in beagle dog plasma by using liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization in the positive-ion mode. The assay procedure involves extraction of polyphyllin V and ginsenoside Re (IS) from beagle dog plasma. Chromatographic separation was carried out on an Agilent Zorbax XDB-C18 (100 x 2.1 mm, 1.8 mu m) column by isocratic elution with acetonitrile and water (50: 50, v/v) at a flow rate of 0.25 mL/min with a total run time of 3.5 min. The MS/MS ion transitions monitored were 721.6 -> 721.6 for polyphyllin V and 969.60 -> 969.60 for IS. Linear responses were obtained for polyphyllin V ranging from 1 to 50 ng/mL. The intra-and inter-day precisions (RSDs) were less than 2.00 and 3.50% and the extraction recovery ranged from 92.36 to 94.33% with RSD less than 2.21%. Stability studies showed that polyphyllin V was stable in preparation and analytical process. The results indicated that the validated method was successfully used to determine the concentration-time profiles of polyphyllin V.