Determination of galangin in rat plasma by UPLC and pharmacokinetic study

•A UPLC method was fully validated to determine galangin in rat plasma.•This is the most sensitive analysis for galangin.•The plasma sample was prepared by liquid–liquid extraction with ethyl acetate.•Galangin was analyzed in rat plasma up to 2 h after administration.

In this study, a simple, sensitive, and robust analytical method based on ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) has been developed for the determination of galangin in rat plasma using diazepam as internal standard (IS). After sample preparation by a simple liquid–liquid extraction, chromatography was performed on an Acquity UPLC BEH C18 column (2.1 mm × 50 mm, 1.7 μm particle size) and ultraviolet detection set at a wavelength of 360 nm. The method was linear over the concentration range 10–1000 ng/mL with a lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) of 10 ng/mL. Inter- and intra-day precision (RSD %) were all within 9.5% and the accuracy (RE %) was equal or lower than 8.9%. Recoveries of galangin and IS were more than 78.3%. Stability studies showed that galangin was stable under a variety of storage conditions. The method was successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study involving oral administration of galangin to rats.