Liver targeting effect of vinegar-baked Radix Bupleuri on oxymatrine in mice

In traditional Chinese medicine co-administration drugs with vinegar-baked Radix Bupleuri (VBRB) is usually used to increase the therapeutic effect in liver disease. However, the scientific data for this effect are not available. In this paper, effect of VBRB on the distribution of oxymatrine was studied. Mice were divided into four groups by random, oxymatrine control and oxymatrine co-administered with three different doses of VBRB. Concentrations of oxymatrine and its metabolite matrine in different tissues were determined by HPLC-MS. Target effencicy was evalutaed by AUC, Cmax, and Relative targeting efficiency (RTE). The results showed that compared to the control group, VBRB significantly increased the distribution of both oxymatrine and matrine in liver and meanwhile decreased their distribution in other tissues, indicating a strong liver targeting enhancing effect. The results of this paper implied that co-administration with VBRB may be a simple and efficiencient method for liver targeting therapy.