Gamboge, a dried resin secreted by Garcinia hanburyi Hook. f. (Guttiferae), possesses remarkable anticancer activity. However, due to toxicity, it must be processed before use in clinics. Xanthones are the main bioactive ingredients in gamboge. In order to elucidate the influence of processing technology on pharmacological properties of gamboge, an efficient, sensitive, and selective ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadruple mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method of five critical xanthones, including β-morellic acid (β-MA), isogambogenic acid (IGNA), gambogenic acid (GNA), R-gambogic acid (GA), and S-GA in rat plasma was established for a comparative pharmacokinetics study of these xanthones after oral administration of crude and processed G. hanburyi extracts. The chromatographic separation of these five xanthones along with an internal standard (I.S.) was carried out on a Waters Acquity UPLC BEH C8 column with a gradient elution method using acetonitrile/0.1% formic acid-water as mobile phases. The eluate was detected by multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) scanning with an electrospray ionization source operating in the positive ionization mode. Sample preparation involved a liquid-liquid extraction of the five analytes with ethyl acetate. Deoxyschizandrin was employed as an internal standard. This assay method was validated for selectivity, linearity, intra-day and inter-day precision, accuracy, recovery, matrix effect, and stability. The results revealed that the calibration curves displayed good linear regression (r > 0.995), and the lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) was <5.52 ng/mL for each analyte. The intra-day and inter-day precision (RSD) of the five xanthones at low, medium, and high levels was <10.58%, and the bias of the accuracy ranged from -8.54 to 10.2%. All other parameters fulfilled the FDA criteria for bioanalytical validation. In addition, the assay was successfully applied to the determination and pharmacokinetic study of these five xanthones after oral administration of crude and processed gamboge. Furthermore, Cmax of GNA and AUC0-t of IGNA were increased significantly (P < 0.05) after processing, while AUC0-t of β-MA, R-GA, and S-GA decreased remarkably (P < 0.05), which suggested that processing exerted different effects on the absorption of xanthones. The results might be valuable for the clinical reasonable application and understanding the processing mechanism of gamboge.
Keywords: Garcinia hanburyi; Pharmacokinetics; Processing; UPLC-ESI-MS/MS; Xanthones.
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