Identification of in vivo and in vitro metabolites of 4,5-dimethoxycanthin-6-one by HPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS

4,5-Dimthexycanthin-6-one and 5-hydroxy-4-methoxycanthin-6-one are the main active ingredients of Picrasma quassioides, which is a widely used herbal medicine for the treatment of gastroenteritis, snakebite, infection and hypertension in China. In the present study, the in vitro metabolites of 4,5-dimethoxycanthin-6-one in rat, mouse, dog and human liver microsomes, as well as the in vivo metabolites in rat plasma and urine following a single oral dose of 4,5-dimethoxycanthin-6-one, were identified by high-performance liquid chromatography combined with triple TOF mass spectrometry (HPLC-TOF/MS/MS). The metabolites were elucidated based on an accurate mass measurement, the MS/MS fragmentation patterns, the retention times of the parent drug and its metabolites, and the relevant drug biotransformation rules. After incubation in liver mcrosomes for 50 min, 4,5-dimethoxycanthin-6-one produced 8 phase I metabolites including 2 mono-demethylated metabolites (M1, M2), 3 mono-hydroxylated metabolites (M3-M5), and 3 mono-demethylated and mono-hydroxylated metabolites (M6-M8) in rat and mouse liver microsomes, 7 phase I metabolites (without M7) in dog and human liver microsomes. After a single oral administration of 4,5-dimethoxycanthin-6-one to rats, there were 3 phase I metabolites (M1, M2 and M5) detected in rat plasma and 5 phase I metabolites (M1-M5) in rat urine. Phase II metabolites were not detected in rat plasma and urine. Among these metabolites, mono-demethylated metabolites (M1 and M2) were the major metabolites of 4,5-dimethoxycanthin-6-one, mono-hydroxylated metabolites (M3-M5) were the minor metabolites of 4,5-dimethoxycanthin-6-one.