| Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is the essential component of Chinese medicine. It has a long history and an especially position in Chinese medical care. TCM is often used with several Chinese herbs simultaneously. The investigation had showed that chemical constituents of herbs could develop various kinds of changes during the preparation process of the TCM due to the influence of the solvent and heat. These changes could usually affect the pharmacological and pharmacodynamic character of TCM. Therefore, the study on the effect of drug compatibility was important to the clinical application.The pair-medicinal-herb is the minimal element of Chinese drug compound prescription. Huanglian (Rhizoma coptidi) -Wuchuyu (Evodia rutaecarpa (Juss.) Benth) was a classic chills and fever drug compatibility. In this study, an HPLC-ESI-MS method was developed for the analysis of the blood drug level of berberine, evodiamine and rutaecarpine in rabbit plasma and the pharmacokinetics of them in rabbit after single administration of Rhizoma coptidi or Evodia rutaecarpa (Juss.) Benth extract. In addition, the difference of pharmacokinetic behavior of berberine after Rhizoma coptidi was incorporated with Evodia rutaecarpa (Juss.) Benth was studied.The results showed that the phartmacokinetic behavior of berberine was fitted to the one-compartment model after a singe administration of Rhizoma coptidi extract. It has a lag time and the Tmax = 66.08± 25.09 min. The T1/2(ke) was 108.56±1.98 min and AUC was 1192.35 ± 188.04 ng . min . mL-1. When incorporated with Evodia rutaecarpa (Juss.) Benth, the pharmacokinetic behavior of berberine was also fitted to the one-compartment model, but there were no lag time and the Tmax, T1/2(ke) and AUC were 43.95 ±6.12 min, 92.2 ± 2.48 min and 597.96 ± 174.47 ng . min . mL-1, respectively. It showed that absorption of berberine was degraded about 49.9 %. Besides, the plasma concentrate-time curves of evodiamine and rutaecarpine were both fitted to the one-compartment model. The AUC of them were 183.2 ± 76.2 and 453.5 ±191.0 ng . min . ml-1, respectively.To date, there were many studies on Rhizoma coptidi - Evodia rutaecarpa (Juss.) Benth. The results showed that the concentration of berberine decreased when Rhizoma coptidi was incorporated with Evodia rutaecarpa (Juss.) Benth. It was proved that a newcompound could form between the alkaloid of Rhizoma coptidi and the flavone of Evodia rutaecarpa (Juss.) Benth. But, there was no study on the pharmacokinetic behavior of berberine before and after the compatibility.In this work, an HPLC-ESI-MS method was used to study the pharmacokinetic behavior of berberine before and after compatibility with Evodia rutaecarpa (Juss.) Benth. It showed the absorption and elimination of berberine were both quickened. The results indicated that the advantages of this compatibility were embodied in other aspects. This study provided reference for the clinical application of the Huanglian (Rhizoma coptidi) -Wuchuyu (Evodia rutaecarpa (Juss.) Benth). |
