Simultaneously determination of five ginsenosides in rabbit plasma using solid-phase extraction and HPLC/MS technique after intravenous administration of ‘SHENMAI’ injection

In this study, a sensitive and reliable analytical method for the simultaneous determination of five ginsenosides (Rg1, Rf, Re, Rd and Rb1) in rabbit plasma was developed by high performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS). Chromatographic separation was carried out on a Zorbax SB-C18 Column (150 mm × 2.1 mm i.d., 5.0 μm particle size) with a simple linear gradient elution. The detection was conducted on a single quadrupole mass spectrometer by selected ion monitoring mode via electrospray ionization source. Good linearity over the investigated concentration ranges was observed with the values of R2 higher than 0.991 for all the analytes. Limits of detection of the analytes varied from 0.25 ng/ml to 1.45 ng/ml, and the average recoveries, examined at three concentration levels, ranged from 90.6% to 106.9%. The validated method was successfully applied to the determination of the ginsenosides in the rabbit plasma after intravenous administration of ‘SHENMAI’ injection.