Using LC-MS/MS to study dauricine pharmacokinetics and determine its bioavailability following administration in different routes

Dauricine has a variety of pharmacological properties including anti-inflammatory, anti-arrhythmic, and antihypertensive effects as well as reversing multidrug resistance (MDR) of cancer cells. While its therapeutic application is increasing, its bioavailability of different administration routes has not been studied. In the present study, we developed and validated a liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry method (LC-MS/MS). Using this method, we quantified dauricine in rat plasma after administration via intravenous (i.v.) injection, per oral (p.o.), and intraperitoneal injection (i.p.). Our results indicated that this method detected plasma dauricine with a good linearity in the range of 1.95–1000.00 ng/mL (r = 0.9997). The extraction method showed an average intra- and inter-day recovery of 98.21–104.35% and 98.0–103.58%, respectively. Dauricine showed a fast absorption and widespread distribution after administration in all three tested routes. After intravenous administration (2.5, 5.0, 10.0 mg/kg), the pharmacokinetics of dauricine exhibited a first-order kinetics. In addition, dauricine showed a slow elimination with a long half-life (t1/2z) and double peaks phenomenon following p.o. and i.p. administration. Furthermore, using area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC), we calculated absolute bioavailability, which was over twofold higher when administered via i.p. than via p.o. administration. The newly obtained information from our study will provide important reference for dauricine dose and administration route in designing dauricine therapy for applicable diseases.