Quantification of nerolidol in mouse plasma using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

•We optimized a fast and sensitive GC–MS method for detection and quantification of the sesquiterpene nerolidol.•The method was applied for preliminary quantification and assessment of biological interferences of nerolidol in mouse plasma.•The method is suitable for monitoring nerolidol as therapeutic or its absorption from therapeutic formulations, cosmetics, and food.

Nerolidol is a naturally occurring sesquiterpene found in the essential oils of many types of flowers and plants. It is frequently used in cosmetics, as a food flavoring agent, and in cleaning products. In addition, nerolidol is used as a skin penetration enhancer for transdermal delivery of therapeutic drugs. However, nerolidol is hemolytic at low concentrations. A simple and fast GC–MS method was developed for preliminary quantification and assessment of biological interferences of nerolidol in mouse plasma after oral dosing. Calibration curves were linear in the concentration range of 0.010–5 μg/mL nerolidol in mouse plasma with correlation coefficients (r) greater than 0.99. Limits of detection and quantification were 0.0017 and 0.0035 μg/mL, respectively. The optimized method was successfully applied to the quantification of nerolidol in mouse plasma.

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