Pharmacokinetic comparison of ferulic acid in healthy volunteers and patients with functional dyspepsia following oral administration of Chaihu-Shugan-San

Ferulic acid (FA) of Chuanxiong Rhizoma could promote gastrointestinal motor has been reported. However, its pharmacokinetic characteristics in patients with functional dyspepsia (FD) have never been investigated. The present study was designed to evaluate and compare the pharmacokinetics of FA in patients with FD and healthy volunteers following oral administration of Chaihu-Shugan-San (CSS). Eight healthy volunteers and seven patients with FD were enrolled and blood samples were obtained after oral administration of CSS. Quantification of FA in serum for pharmacokinetic study was achieved by using a simple and rapid UPLC-PDA method. After oral administration of CSS to healthy volunteers and patients, the maximum concentrations were 355.53±65.31 and 199.69±41.04 ng/ml at 26.95±7.64 and 27.51±5.02 min, respectively. Compared with the value of AUC0-480(22.41±3.28 μg/ml min) in healthy volunteers, a smaller value of AUC0-480 (14.83±2.48 µg/ml min) was observed in patients with FD. There were statistically differences in the pharmacokinetic parameters of FA including the values for C max, AUC0-480, CL/F and MRT0-480 between healthy volunteers and patients. The pharmacokinetic parameters showed that FD reduced the absorption of FA after oral administration of CSS.   Key words: Functional dyspepsia, ferulic acid, pharmacokinetics, Chaihu-Shugan-San.