Metabolic Profiling of Glabridin in Rat Plasma, Urine, Bile, and Feces After Intragastric and Intravenous Administration.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Glabridin is usually used to treat cardiovascular and central nervous system diseases, which is a main bioactive phytoconstituent of licorice root. In this study, our aim was to obtain metabolic profiles of glabridin in rat plasma, urine, bile, and feces after intragastric and intravenous administration.

METHODS

By UPLC-QTOF-MS, the metabolites of glabridin were systematically analyzed and identified. An ACQUITY UPLC HSS T3 column (100 × 2.1 mm, 1.8 mm) and the mobile phase containing water with 0.1% formic acid (A) and acetonitrile with 0.1% formic acid (B) via gradient elution was used as the chromatographic condition for separation. An extracted ion chromatogram strategy with multiple prototype/metabolite intermediate templates and 71 typical metabolic reactions was suggested to completely profile the metabolites of glabridin.

RESULTS

For the first time, 13 compounds in total were recognized from urine, plasma, bile, and feces of rats with the metabolite profiling strategy. The main metabolic form of glabridin in rats consisted of the prototype, hydroxylation, glucuronide conjugation, decarbonylation, and tert-butyl to alcohol metabolites.

CONCLUSIONS

The results not only indicated a comprehensive study on the probable metabolic pathways of glabridin in vivo, but also provided useful data and information for future pharmacological studies of glabridin.