Determination of wogonin in rat plasma by liquid chromatography and its pharmacokinetic application

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed for the determination of wogonin in the rat plasma. After addition of an internal standard (clomipramine), plasma was deproteinized by acetonitrile and centrifuged for sample clean-up. The supernatant was separated by a reversed-phase column chromatography, identified by a photodiode-array detector, and quantified by ultraviolet detection at a wavelength of 275 nm. Acetonitrile-water-diethylamine (50:50:0.1, v/v/v, pH 3.0 adjusted by orthophosphoric acid) was used as the mobile phase. The method was applied to the pharmacokinetic study of wogonin in rats after a dose of 5 mg/kg by intravenous administration. A biphasic phenomenon with a rapid distribution followed by a slower elimination phase was observed from the plasma concentration time profile.