HPLC method for the simultaneous determination of four compounds in rat plasma after intravenous administration of Portulaca oleracea L. extract

The objective of the present study was to develop a simple and selective HPLC method for the simultaneous determination of hesperidin (HP), caffeic acid (CA), ferulic acid (FA) and p-coumaric acid (p-CA) in rat plasma after intravenous administration of Portulaca oleracea L. extract (POE). With the hyperoside as the internal standard, the sample pretreatment procedure involved simple single-step extraction with methanol of 0.2 mL plasma. The mobile phase consisted of methanol-acetonitrile-tetrahydrofuran-0.5% glacial acetic acid (5:3:18:74, v/v/v/v). The calibration curves were linear over the range of 0.1-25 mu g mL(-1), 0.1-25 mu g mL(-1). 0.1-25 mu g mL(-1) and 0.015-3 mu g mL(-1) for HP, CA, FA and p-CA, respectively. The method developed was suitable for the pharmacokinetic study of HP, CA, FA and p-CA in rats after intravenous administration of POE.