Identification of metabolites of PSORALEAE FRUCTUS in rats by ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry analysis

• Metabolite profiles of PSORALEAE FRUCTUS in rats were explored by UPLC/Q-TOF-MS.
• The metabolic fate of six representative single compounds was discovered.
• A total of 105 PSORALEAE FRUCTUS-related xenobiotics were identified in rat biofluids.
• Different metabolic fate of PSORALEAE FRUCTUS extract was observed and discussed.

The fruit of Psoralea corylifolia (PSORALEAE FRUCTUS) is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which has been used to prevent and treat vitiligo, psoriasis, and osteoporosis in China for thousands of years. Phytochemical investigation on PSORALEAE FRUCTUS, as well as some metabolism research focused on pharmacokinetics of several single compounds from this plant, has been reported. However, the effective material of PSORALEAE FRUCTUS is still unknown. In the present study, the metabolic fate of multiple components of PSORALEAE FRUCTUS in rats was investigated by ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC/Q-TOF-MS). Based on a three-step strategy, a total of 142 PSORALEAE FRUCTUS-related xenobiotics were identified or tentatively characterized in rat biofluids after oral administration of six representative single compounds and PSORALEAE FRUCTUS extract. All six different types of constituents of PSORALEAE FRUCTUS, including furocoumarin, coumestan, isoflavone, flavanone, chalcone and monoterpene phenol, could be absorbed into the circulation system. In addition, compared with the metabolism of six representative single compounds, different metabolic fate was observed after oral administration of PSORALEAE FRUCTUS extract, which indicated that the drug–drug interactions occurred when fed by multi-component herbal extract, and the investigations only focused on several main components were not sufficient to represent and reflect the overall efficacy of plants. The present study will be conducive to further pharmacological mechanism research on PSORALEAE FRUCTUS.

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