Determination of pancratistatin in mouse blood by ultra-liquid chromatography-tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry and its application

In this study, a UPLC-MS/MS method was developed for determination of pancratistatin in the mouse blood, and the pharmacokinetics of pancratistatin in mice after intravenous (5 mg kg−1) and intragastric (15 mg kg−1) administration was studied. HSS T3 column was used for separation with mobile phases of acetonitrile and 0.1% formic acid using gradient elution procedure. The blood sample was treated by protein precipitant with acetonitrile, midazolam was used as internal standard (IS). Multiple reaction monitoring mode (MRM) was used for quantitative analysis, m/z 326.2→83.8 for pancratistatin and m/z 326.2→291.4 for IS in electrospray (ESI) positive interface. It showed a good linear in the range of 10–4,000 ng mL−1 (r > 0.998); the intra-day and inter-day precision was <15%, and the accuracy was 93%–105%. The recovery was better than 82%, and the matrix effect was 94%–105%. The developed UPLC-MS/MS method was fast, selective, and suitable for the pharmacokinetics of pancratistatin in mice.