Residual and pharmacokinetic behavior of berberine in Carassius auratus under intraperitoneal injection conditions by HPLC-Q-TOF/MS

Abstract

The present study investigated the distribution characteristics of Berberine (BBR) in Carassius auratus under artificial environmental conditions (temperature: 26 ± 1.0 °C; continuous air pumping) following a single administration via intraperitoneal injection of an appropriate dosage of 2.0 mg/Kg per body weight. Additionally, studies have investigated the residual distribution of BBR in eight different tissues using high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-Q-TOF/MS) technology. A total of 36 Carassius auratus (3 parallel samples per group) were in the drug-exposed group and 3 were in the control group. Carassius auratus were sampled at the indicated times (sampling interval: 24–96 h), lasting for approximately one month. The residual metabolic drug concentration-time curves were plotted according to the concentration of BBR in different tissues.

The maximum BBR concentrations (C_max) in all tissues were achieved 24 h after the administration of the intraperitoneal injection. The order of the C_max was: muscle < eye < gill < brain < kidney < intestine< liver < bile. According to the distribution characteristics of BBR between tissues, the drug concentrations in muscle, brain, eye, and gill tissues were relatively low (∼100 to >400 ng/g). Their metabolism was rapid, and BBR residue was significantly reduced to tens of ng/g from 24 to 200 h. Meanwhile, the bile, kidney, intestine, and liver contained significantly higher concentrations of BBR (maintained at 1200 to 6000 ng/g). The concentration shows a fluctuating and decreasing characteristic, with the drug remaining for a longer period. Following the 31 days BBR withdrawal period, the pharmacokinetic parameters of maximum observed concentration(C_max), terminal half-life (T_1/2), elimination rate constant during terminal phase (λ_z), the volume of distribution (Vd/F), and total body clearance (Cl/F) were calculated employing non-compartmental analysis (NCA) using the PK Solver software. The research results of the article explain the retention of BBR in Carassius auratus until excretion and can be used to determine residual levels over time.