LC–MS/MS method for the determination of erianin in rat plasma: Application to a pharmacokinetic study

Abstract Erianin is one of the bibenzyl ingredients isolated from Dctidrobium chrysotoxum Lindl. In recent years, erianin has attracted attention owing to its antitumor activity. In this study, an LC–MS/MS method was established to measure erianin in rat plasma. Gigantol was used as the internal standard. A Waters Acquity UPLC BEH C 18 column was employed for chromatographic separation. The mobile phase consisted of water containing 0.1% formic acid and acetonitrile with a gradient elution at the flow rate of 0.4 ml/min. Selective reaction monitoring mode was used for quantitative analysis of erianin in positive electrospray ionization. In the concentration range of 0.1–1200 ng/ml, erianin in rat plasma was linear with correlation coefficient >0.999. The lowest limit of quantification was 0.1 ng/ml. The intra‐ and inter‐day RSDs were <9.69%, while the RE was in the range of −8.59–11.24%. The mean recovery was >85.37%. Erianin was stable in rat plasma after storage under certain conditions. The validated method was demonstrated to be selective, sensitive and reliable, and has been successfully applied to pharmacokinetic study of erianin in rat plasma. Erianin was rapidly eliminated from rat plasma with a short half‐life (〜1.5 h) and low oral bioavailability (8.7%).