HPLC study of tissue distribution of loganin in rats.

A rapid, sensitive and selective high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed and validated for determination of loganin in rat tissues. Samples were prepared based on a simple protein precipitation. Separation of loganin was achieved on a reversed-phase C(18) column (250 x 4.6 mm, 5 microm) with a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile and water (16:84, v/v) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The detection wavelength was set at 236 nm and the temperature of the column was kept at 30 degrees C. The method was applied to study tissue distribution of loganin in rats after a single administration of loganin at a dose of 20 mg/kg. The highest level was observed in kidney, then in stomach, lung and small intestine. The lowest level was found in brain. The peak levels were attained at 90 min in most tissues. It was indicated that kidney was the major distribution tissue of loganin in rats, and that loganin had difficulty in crossing the blood-brain barrier. It was also found there was no long-term accumulation of loganin in rat tissues.