Simultaneous LC–MS Analysis and of Wogonin and Oroxylin A in Rat Plasma, and Pharmacokinetic Studies After Administration of the Active Fraction from Xiao-Xu-Ming Decoction

A rapid and specific high-performance liquid chromatographic method coupled with electrospray ionization mass spectrometric detection has been developed and validated for identification and quantification of wogonin and oroxylin A in rat plasma. Wogonin, oroxylin A, and diazepam (internal standard) were extracted from plasma samples by liquid–liquid extraction with ethyl acetate. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a C 18 column with acetonitrile–0.6% aqueous formic acid 35:65 ( v / v ) as mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.2 mL min −1 . Detection was performed with a single-quadrupole mass spectrometer in selected-ion-monitoring (SIM) mode. Linearity was good within the concentration range 14.4–360 ng mL −1 for wogonin and 10.8–271 ng mL −1 for oroxylin A; the correlation coefficients ( r 2 ) were 0.9999. The intra-day and inter-day precision, as RSD, was below 12.4%, and accuracy ranged from 81.1 to 111.9%. The lower limit of quantification was 14.4 ng mL −1 for wogonin and 10.8 ng mL −1 for oroxylin A. This method was successfully used in the first pharmacokinetic study of wogonin and oroxylin A in rat plasma after oral administration of the active fraction from Xiao-xu-ming decoction.