Studying the Pharmokinetics of Chinese Medicine

A team of scientists from Taizhou, China, has developed a means to study the pharmacokinetics of Qiangxin Lishui Prescription (QLP), a drug used to treat heart failure. The team published their findings in the Journal of Separation Science (1).

To determine the active substances in the drug, the team used multi-component pharmacokinetic research. The aim of this study was to profile the properties and differences in the pharmacokinetics of QLP materials, such as salvianolic acid B, astragaloside IV, calycosin-7-O-.b-D-glucoside and kaempferol, in QLP between normal rats and rats with chronic heart failure (CHF). This was done via microdialysis combined with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS).

The UHPLC-MS/MS method used three different types of microdialysis: sensitive, selective and online microdialysis. These were successfully established and applied to study the pharmacokinetics of QLP. According to the scientists, after the experiment it was discovered that “the pathological condition of CHF could lead to an increase in systematic exposure and a decrease in the metabolic rate of four bioactive components, for better bioavailability and therapeutic efficacy” (1).

(1) Wang, Q.; Jiang, Y.; Wei, N.; Li, J.; Zhang, M.; Chen, L. Comparative pharmacokinetics of four bioactive components in rats with normal and chronic heart failure after oral administration of Qiangxin Lishui prescription by microdialysis combined with ultra-high liquid chromatography. J. Sep. Sci. 2023, 2300518. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jssc.202300518