A UPLC-MS/MS coupled with GC-MS method for quantification of twenty-one chemical ingredients from Suxiao Jiuxin pill in multiple tissue of rat and its application to tissue distribution study

Suxiao Jiuxin pill (SJP) was a commonly-used traditional Chinese medicine for treating cardiovascular diseases. It was composed of the rhizome of Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort. and Borneolum Syntheticum. The distribution of SJP in vivo was still ambiguous. A UPLC-MS/MS coupled with GC-MS method was developed to quantify twenty-one chemical ingredients in multiple tissues from rat after administration of SJP. Protein precipitation and liquid-liquid microextraction were both utilized in sample pretreatment. All analytes were detected under acceptable specificity, linearity (correlation coefficient > 0.992), sensitivity (LLOQ < 12.5 ng/mL), precision (RSD < 14.8 %), accuracy (RE < ±14.6 %), extraction recovery (between 52.8 % and 124.1 %), matrix effect (ranged from 60.5 % and 149.7 %) and stability (RE < ±16.0 %). The established method was successfully applied in the tissue distribution study of SJP in rats. As a result, the distribution characteristics of ten analytes were clearly elucidated, including borneol, isoborneol, ligustilide, senkyunolide A, ferulic acid, senkyunolide I, levistolide A, neocnidilide, senkyunolide H and angelicide. The information provided by this research was greatly meaningful for the active chemical ingredient exploration and clinical application of SJP.