Quantification of pinosylvin in rat plasma by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry: Application to a pre-clinical pharmacokinetic study

Abstract

Pinosylvin (trans-3,5-dihydroxystilbene), a naturally occurring analogue of resveratrol (trans-3,5,4'-trihydoxystilbene), exhibited various beneficial pharmacological activities in pre-clinical studies. To further probe its potential medicinal application, a sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method (LC-MS/MS) was developed and validated for the quantification of pinosylvin in rat plasma. A simple protein precipitation procedure was used for plasma cleanup before analysis by LC-MS/MS with electrospray ionisation and multiple reaction monitoring in its negative ion mode. This LC-MS/MS method demonstrated good selectivity, accuracy (intra- and inter-day analytical recovery within 100±7.7%), precision (intra- and inter-day coefficient of variation0.99) over the range of 1-1000ng/mL. The pharmacokinetic profiles of pinosylvin were subsequently assessed in Sprague-Dawley rats. Following intravenous administration (5 or 10mg/kg), plasma levels of pinosylvin declined rapidly with a short half-life (t1/2