HPLC determination of safflor yellow A and three active isoflavones from TCM Naodesheng in rat plasma and tissues and its application to pharmacokinetic studies.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for the simultaneous determination and pharmacokinetic studies of safflor yellow A, puerarin, 3'-methoxyl-puerarin, and puerarinapioside in the plasma and tissues of rats that had been administered with the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) preparation Naodesheng via the caudal vein. Samples taken from rats were subjected to protein precipitation with acetone. Separation of these four compounds was accomplished on a Kromisil C18 stationary phase using a mobile phase of acetonitrile-0.1% phosphoric acid-tetrahydrofuran (8:92:2, v/v/v) at a flow-rate of 1.0 mL/min. The detection wavelength was set at 250 nm. The calibration curves of the four components were linear in the given concentration ranges. The intra- and inter-day precisions in plasma and tissues were less than 15% and the extraction recoveries were higher than 60%. The lower limits of quantitation of four components were low enough to determine the four components. These four components all exhibited kinetics that fitted a two-compartment model in rats. The elimination half-life was 1.19 h for safflor yellow A, 2.69 h for puerarin, 2.94 h for 3'-methoxyl-puerarin, and 0.87 h for puerarinapioside, respectively. Following administration of a single injection of Naodesheng, the concentration (C) of the four components in the tissues showed C(kidney) > C(lung), C(liver) > C(spleen), C(stomach), C(heart), approximately. The method is a reliable tool for performing studies of safflor yellow A and three puerarin isoflavones in different biological material.