BACKGROUND: Sinomenine is a pure alkaloid with a variety of pharmacological actions including anti-inflammation, immuno-suppression, analgesia, antihypertension, and antiarrhythmia. Methods have been developed to measure sinomenine in rats and rabbits through high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). But only one report described a method for determination of sinomenine in humans. METHOD: We developed a method to quantitate sinomenine in human plasma based on liquid chromatography-ion trap mass spectrometry coupled with electrospray ionization (HPLC/ESI/ion trap mass spectrum). RESULTS: The calibration curve (r2=0.9993) of sinomenine was established with standard solutions. The mean inter-day and intra-day CVs<15%. The limit of detection for sinomenine was 0.5 ng/ml. The relative recovery of high, middle and low concentration was 99%, 103%, and 118%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The method is simple, rapid, sensitive, specific, and accurate enough for determination of sinomenine in human plasma and may be used to investigate the metabolism and pharmacokinetics of sinomenine.
BACKGROUND:Sinomenine is a pure alkaloid with a variety of pharmacological actions including anti-inflammation, immuno-suppression, analgesia, antihypertension, and antiarrhythmia. Methods have been developed to measure sinomenine in rats and rabbits through high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). But only one report described a method for determination of sinomenine in humans. METHOD: We developed a method to quantitate sinomenine in human plasma based on liquid chromatography-ion trap mass spectrometry coupled with electrospray ionization (HPLC/ESI/ion trap mass spectrum). RESULTS: The calibration curve (r2=0.9993) of sinomenine was established with standard solutions. The mean inter-day and intra-day CVs<15%. The limit of detection for sinomenine was 0.5 ng/ml. The relative recovery of high, middle and low concentration was 99%, 103%, and 118%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The method is simple, rapid, sensitive, specific, and accurate enough for determination of sinomenine in human plasma and may be used to investigate the metabolism and pharmacokinetics of sinomenine.