Determination of nobiletin and tangeretin in rat plasma by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and study of their pharmacokinetics

Abstract

An ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was developed for the determination of nobiletin and tangeretin in rat plasma, and the plasma was processed by a simple liquid-liquid extraction method with ethyl acetate. The chromatographic column was UPLC HSS T3 (50 × 2.1 mm, 1.7 μm), the mobile phase was acetonitrile-water (containing 0.1% formic acid). Multiple reaction monitoring mode (MRM) was used for quantitative analysis, nobiletin m/z 403.29 → 373.14 (cone voltage 22v, collision voltage 28v), tangeretin m/z 373.28 → 343.17 (cone voltage 20v, collision voltage 28V), tangeretin m/z 373.28 → 343.17 (cone voltage 20V, collision voltage 28V) and internal standard vitexin m/z 433.14 → 313.03 (cone voltage 32v, collision voltage 26v). The pharmacokinetics of nobiletin and tangeretin were evaluated in rats. The established UPLC-MS/MS method in the range of 2–2,000 ng mL−1 was successfully applied to the pharmacokinetics, and the calculated bioavailability of nobiletin and tangeretin was 63.9 and 46.1%, respectively.