Metabolites of curculigoside in rats and their antiosteoporotic activities in osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells.

Curculigoside isolated from Curculiginis Rhizoma exhibits a wide spectrum of bioactivities. In this study, a high performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of- flight tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC/Q-TOF MS) method was employed to investigate the metabolism of curculigoside in rats. Plasma, bile, urine, feces and 17 tissues were collected from rats after a single PO dose of curculigoside at 100mg/kg and prepared through methanol precipitation. Parent compound and a total of 7 metabolites were detected and identified based on their retention time and fragment ions. Metabolic pathways of curculigoside in rats include hydrolysis, demethylation and glucuronidation. Exposure of major metabolite M2 in plasma and it's antiosteoporotic activity in osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells were studied to help understand that curculigoside assimilates less but works more.