UPLC-MS/MS method for Icariin and metabolites in whole blood of C57 mice: development, validation, and pharmacokinetics study

Wei Liu; Xiuyun Li; Na Li; Ze Mi; Na Li; Jinjing Che

doi:10.3389/fphar.2023.1195525

UPLC-MS/MS method for Icariin and metabolites in whole blood of C57 mice: development, validation, and pharmacokinetics study

Front Pharmacol. 2023 Jul 20:14:1195525. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1195525. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Wei Liu¹, Xiuyun Li^{1

2}, Na Li², Ze Mi¹, Na Li³, Jinjing Che²

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Separation Membranes and Membrane Processes/National Center for International Joint Research on Separation Membranes, Tiangong University, Tianjin, China.
² Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, State Key Laboratory of Toxicology and Medical Countermeasures Beijing, Beijing, China.
³ Center of Drug Evaluation, National Medical Products Administration, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Icariin, a Chinese medicinal herb with significant effects on Alzheimer's disease, lacks pharmacokinetic data in mice. To address this, a UPLC-MS/MS method was developed and validated for quantifying Icariin and its metabolites, Icariside I and Icariside II, in the whole blood of mice. The method processed micro-whole blood from serial collections of the same C57 mouse, with well-fitted linearity (0.25-800 ng mL^-1) and intra- and inter-day precision and accuracy within 15%. Short-time and autosampler stability were verified, with acceptable extraction recoveries and matrix effects over 74.55%. After intravenous administration (15 mg kg^-1) of Icariin in C57 mice, Icariside I and Icariside II were detected within 2 min. However, after the intragastric administration (30, 90, and 150 mg kg^-1) of Icariin in C57 mice, Icariin and Icariside I were not detected, and Icariin was rapidly converted into Icariside II. Furthermore, the C_max and AUC_0-t of three doses (30, 90, and 150 mg kg^-1) of Icariside II increased as the dose increased. In conclusion, this method improves the traditional method of collecting only one blood sample from each mouse, detecting Icariin and its metabolites in the whole blood of mice, especially for serial collection of micro-whole blood.

Keywords: IcariinIcariside I; Icariside II; UPLC-MS/MS; pharmacokinetics; serial whole blood sampling.

Grants and funding

This work was supported in part by Project of the Science and Technology Development Fund of Tianjin Education Commission for Higher Education (No. 2018KJ200).