Metabolic profile of 2-(2-hydroxypropanamido) benzoic acid in rats by ultra high performance liquid chromatography combined with Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry

•Development of a UHPLC-FT-ICR-MS method to study metabolism of HPABA in rats.•A total of 13 metabolites were detected and tentatively identified.•Metabolic profile of HPABA in rats was revealed.•The results provide essential data for further studying on HPABA.

An ultra high performance liquid chromatography combined with Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (UHPLC-FT-ICR-MS) method was developed to investigate the in vivo metabolism of 2-(2-hydroxypropanamido) benzoic acid (HPABA), a marine-derived anti-inflammatory drug, for the first time. Plasma, urine, feces and bile samples were collected from male and female rats after a single intragastric administration of HPABA at a dose of 100 mg/kg. Besides the parent drug, a total of 13 metabolites (3 phase I and 10 phase II metabolites) were detected and tentatively identified through comparing their mass spectrometry profiles with those of HPABA. Results demonstrated that metabolic pathways of HPABA in rats included decarboxylation, hydroxylation, dehydrogenation, glucuronidation, glycine conjugation and N-acetyl conjugation. In summary, this work provided valuable information regarding the metabolism of HPABA in rats, which would contribute to better understanding of its safety and mechanism of action.