A rapid UFLC–MS/MS method for simultaneous determination of formononetin, cryptotanshinone, tanshinone IIA and emodin in rat plasma and its application to a pharmacokinetic study of Bu Shen Huo Xue formula

Bu Shen Huo Xue formula (BSHX) is a traditional Chinese medicine prescription used for clinical treatment of chronic kidney diseases. A rapid and selective Ultra fast liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (UFLC–MS/MS) method was developed for simultaneous determination of four bioactive components of BSHX including formononetin, cryptotanshinone, tanshinone IIA, and emodin in control and unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) model rat plasma for the first time. Atorvastatin was used as the internal standard (IS). Plasma samples were extracted by liquid–liquid extraction with ethyl acetate. The chromatographic separation was carried out on a Shim-pack XR-ODS III column with a gradient mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile and 0.1% formic acid. The detection was performed on a triple-quad tandem mass spectrometer by multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) via electrospray ionization (ESI) source with positive ionization mode for formononetin, cryptotanshinone, tanshinone IIA, and negative mode for emodin. The method was linear for four analytes over the range of investigated concentration with all coefficients of determination (R2) greater than 0.9938. The lower limits of quantification (LLOQ) for formononetin, cryptotanshinone, tanshinone IIA, and emodin were defined as 0.3, 0.5, 1.5, and 0.3 ng/mL, respectively. The rapid and sensitive method was fully validated and successfully applied to the pharmacokinetic study of formononetin, cryptotanshinone, tanshinone IIA and emodin in rats following oral administration of Bu Shen Huo Xue formula.