Metabolic profiling of soyasaponin Bb in rat plasma, urine, bile, and feces after intragastric administration

Soyasaponin Bb is one of the bioactive oleanolic acid-type triterpenoid saponins mainly isolated from soybean. It possesses significant antithrombosis, hypolipidemic, anticancer, and antioxidant activities. However, the metabolic profiles of soyasaponin Bb are still unknown. The present study investigated the metabolites of soyasaponin Bb in plasma, bile, urine, and feces samples after intragastric administration using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-time-of-flight-mass spectrometry, and its possible metabolic pathways were subsequently proposed. Using the metabolite profiling strategy, 11 metabolites were first identified from urine, plasma, bile, and feces of rats after intragastric administration of soyasaponin Bb. Hydroxylation and hydrolysis were the major metabolic pathways of soyasaponin Bb in rat. The results expand our knowledge of the metabolism of soyasaponin Bb, which could provide valuable information for better comprehension of future pharmacological research.