Simultaneous determination of five alkaloids from Rauvolfia vomitoria in rat plasma by LC‐MS/MS: Application to a comparative pharmacokinetic study in normal and type 2 diabetic rats

Abstract

Rauvolfia vomitoria is widely distributed in the tropical regions of Africa and Asia, and has been used in traditional folk medicine in China. Indole alkaloids were found to be major bioactive components, while the effects of diabetes mellitus on the pharmacokinetic parameters of the components have not been reflected in vivo. In this study, an efficient and sensitive liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of five ingredients of R. vomitoria in rats. Detection was implemented in multiple‐reaction‐monitoring mode with an electrospray positive‐ionization source. Validation parameters were all in accordance with the current criterion. The established method was effectively employed to compare the pharmacokinetic behaviors of five alkaloids (reserpine, yohimbine, ajmaline, ajmalicine, and serpentine) between normal and type 2 diabetic rats. The single‐dose pharmacokinetic parameters of the five alkaloids were determined in normal and diabetic rats after oral administration of 100 and 200 mg/kg body weight. The results indicated that diabetes mellitus significantly altered the pharmacokinetic characteristics of yohimbine, ajmaline, and ajmalicine after oral administration in rats. This is an attempt to provide some evidence for clinicians that may serve as a guide for the use of antidiabetic medicine in clinical practice.

Presence and Quantity of Botanical Ingredients With Purported Performance-Enhancing Properties in Sports Supplements

“…Since the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned ephedra from dietary supplements in 2004, supplement manufacturers have promoted a complex variety of alternative botanical compounds for sports enhancement. Extracts of Rauwolfia vomitoria containing α-yohimbine, the caffeine-like compound methylliberine, the partial β 2 -agonist halostachine, the plant steroid turkesterone, and norepinephrine-like octopamine are all found in plants and are promoted in dietary supplements for their stimulant or anabolic effects …”

“…Extracts of Rauwolfia vomitoria containing α-yohimbine, the caffeine-like compound methylliberine, the partial β 2 -agonist halostachine, the plant steroid turkesterone, and norepinephrine-like octopamine are all found in plants and are promoted in dietary supplements for their stimulant or anabolic effects. [1][2][3] The FDA does not preapprove these ingredients, or any supplement ingredient, for either efficacy or safety before their introduction, but FDA inspections have found that supplement manufacturers often fail to comply with basic manufacturing standards, such as establishing the identity, purity, or composition of the final product. Given the products' potentially complex physiologic effects and concerns regarding manufacturing quality, we determined the accuracy of dietary supplement labels declaring R vomitoria, methylliberine, halostachine, octopamine, and turkesterone.…”

Target profiling of flavonol glycosides in the extract of Ginkgo biloba leaf and their pharmacokinetics in rat plasma by ultra‐high‐performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry

“…Pharmacokinetic studies, as the bridge between phytochemistry and pharmacology, are of great help in elucidating potential pharmacological mechanisms of drugs [14][15][16][17]. In recent years, several methods have been developed for pharmacokinetic studies of ginkgo flavonoids with the rapid development of MS technology [18][19][20][21][22][23][24].…”