Development of a HPLC-MS assay for ginsenoside Rh2, a new anti-tumor substance from natural product and its pharacokinetic study in dogs.

To develop a HPLC-MS method of determining ginsenoside Rh2 in dog plasma based on solid-phase extraction for pharmacokinetic studies. Six dogs were randomly assigned to two groups, either given 0.1 mg/kg dose intravenously or 1 mg/kg dose through oral gavage. Analysis using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with ODS column, followed by detection with electrospray ionization(ESI) mass spectrometry(MS) in negative ion mode with 500 microM ammonium chloride in the mobile phase. The assays were validated over the concentration range of 2.0-1250.0 ng/ml in dog plasma. The intra- and inter- day precision were less than 10% in terms of RSD. The overall recovery was more than 80%. The validated assay was suitable for pharmacokinetic studies of ginsenoside Rh2 and the observed oral bioavailabilities of Rh2 were 17.6% and 24.8% for male and female dogs respectively.