A simple and sensitive UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS method for sophoricoside metabolism study in vitro and in vivo

•Initial metabolism study of sophoricoside in vivo and vitro.•Generalized metabolic mechanisms of sophoricoside in vivo and vitro.•60 metabolites including 38 phase II metabolites in vivo.•4 metabolites containing 2 phase II metabolites in vitro.

Sophoricoside (SOPH) is an isoflavone glycoside isolated from Fructus Sophorae, and it has the effects on reproductive system. Currently, a strategy was firstly developed to identify the metabolites of SOPH in vitro and in vivo using ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with hybrid triple quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS). Based on the proposed method, 60 metabolites were structurally characterized in vivo including 22 phase I and 38 phase II metabolites, and 4 metabolites in vitro were detected containing 2 phase I and 2 phase II metabolites. The results indicated that the metabolic pathways mainly included oxidation, reduction, hydrolysis, methylation, sulfate, glucuronide, glutamine and glycine conjugation. These results will provide basic data for future pharmacological and toxicology studies of SOPH and other isoflavone glycoside.