Pharmacokinetic Comparison Between Quercetin and Quercetin 3-O-β-glucuronide in Rats by UHPLC-MS/MS

Overview

Journal Sci Rep

Specialty Science

Date 2016 Oct 25

PMID 27775094

Citations 32

Authors

Le-Le Yang

Na Xiao

Xiao-Wei Li

Yong Fan

Raphael N Alolga

Xiao-Yue Sun

Shi-Lei Wang

Ping Li

Lian-Wen Qi

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Quercetin is a natural flavonoid widely distributed in human diet and functional foods. Quercetin 3-O-β-glucuronide (Q3G) is present in wine and some medicinal plants. Quercetin and Q3G may be metabolized from each other in vivo. While quercetin has been the subject of many studies, the pharmacokinetic profiles of quercetin and Q3G (in animals) have not yet been compared. Herein, we prepared a column-based method for rapid isolation of Q3G from Nelumbo nucifera. Then, we developed an UHPLC-MS/MS method to compare the pharmacokinetics of quercetin and Q3G. Our results showed that the plasma concentration-time curves of quercetin and Q3G show two maxima (T ≈ 0.75 h, T ≈ 5 h). After oral administration of 100 mg/kg quercetin or 100 mg/kg Q3G in rats, predominantly Q3G was detected in plasma with AUC at 39529.2 ± 6108.2 mg·h·L or 24625.1 ± 1563.8 mg·h·L, 18-fold higher than quercetin with AUC at 1583.9 ± 583.3 mg·h·L or 1394.6 ± 868.1 mg·h·L, respectively. After intravenous injection of 10 mg/kg in rats, Q3G showed extensive tissue uptake in kidney (409.2 ± 118.4 ng/g), liver (166.1 ± 52.9 ng/g), heart (97.7 ± 22.6 ng/g), and brain (5.8 ± 1.2 ng/g). In conclusion, we have shown that Q3G is a major active component in plasma and tissue for oral administration of quercetin or Q3G.

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