Asian Journal
Of Traditional Medicines

Abstract: A rapid, sensitive and specific method for the quantitation of trillin in mouse tissues was developed and validated using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) with an electrospray ionization (ESI) interface. The plasma proteins were precipitated with methanol and ginsenoside Rh₂ was used as the internal standard (IS). Separation of trillin was accomplished on a Metachem ODS-3 analytical column (50 mm×2.0 mm, 5 µm) with a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile-water-formic acid (80:20:0.1, v/v/v) which was delivered at 0.2 ml/min. The electrospray ionization was operated in positive-ion mode. Ions were monitored in the multiple reaction-monitoring (MRM) mode, and the fragmentation transitions were m/z 577.6→253.6 amu for trillin and m/z 621.5→603.7 amu for ginsenoside Rh₂. This method has been successfully applied to study the tissue distribution characteristics of trillin after intravenous administration (at a dose of 7.6 mg/kg) to mice. The linear ranges of the concentration of trillin in the heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney, and brain were 5–300 µg/ml. The magnitude of the AUC of trillin was, in descending order, lung, spleen, kidney, heart, and liver. The magnitude of the MRT was, in descending order, lung, spleen, kidney, heart, and liver.

Key words: trillin, tissue distribution, liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, electrospray ionization