Pharmacokinetic Comparison of Seven Major Bio-Active Components in Normal and Blood Stasis Rats after Oral Administration of Herb Pair Danggui-Honghua by UPLC-TQ/MS

The compatibility between Danggui (Angelicae Sinensis Radix) and Honghua (Carthami Flos) is a known herb pair, which could activate blood circulation and dissipate blood stasis effects. In this paper, we quantified seven main bio-active components (hydroxysafflor yellow A, caffeic acid, p-coumaric acid, kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside, ferulic acid, 3-n-butylphthalide, and ligustilide) in plasma samples in vivo by UPLC-TQ/MS method and investigated whether the pharmacokinetic (PK) behaviors of the seven components could be altered in blood stasis rats after oral administration of the Gui-Hong extracts. It was found that the C-max and AUC(0-t) of these components in blood stasis rats had increasing tendency compared with normal rats. Most components in model and normal rats had significant difference in some pharmacokinetic parameters, which indicated that the metabolism enzymes and transporters involved in the metabolism and disposition of these bio-active components may bealtered in blood stasis rats. This study was the first report about the pharmacokinetic investigation between normal and blood stasis rats after oral administration of Gui-Hong extracts, and these results are important and valuable for better clinical applications of Gui-Hong herb pair and related TCM formulae.