A rapid and sensitive ultra‐high‐pressure liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method for the determination of notoginsenoside Ft1 in rat plasma with application to pharmacokinetic study

Notoginsenoside Ft1 (NGFt1), a dammarane triterpene glycoside isolated from Panax notoginseng , showed potent effective in stimulating platelet aggregation in our previous assay, yet its pharmacokinetic behavior is still unclear. This study describes a rapid and sensitive ultra‐high‐pressure LC–tandem mass spectrometry assay for determining of NGFt1 in rat plasma. Methanol‐mediated precipitation was used for sample pre‐treatment. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a C 18 column with gradient elution using water and acetonitrile as mobile phase. Determination was obtained using an electrospray ionization source in negative selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mode at the transitions of m/z 915.9 →  m/z 783.8 and m/z 799.8 →  m/z 637.8 for NGFt1 and internal standard, respectively. The assay was linear over the concentration range 0.25–2500 ng/mL ( r  > 0.995) with the lower limit of quantification of 0.25 ng/mL. The intra‐ and inter‐day precisions (relative standard deviation, %) ranged 1.65%–9.84% and 2.46%–13.49%, respectively, whereas accuracy (relative recovery, %) ranged from 96.21% to 99.45%, respectively. The recovery ranged from 95.09% to 102.22% and the matrix effect from 98.29% to 100.13%. The analyte was stable under tested storage conditions. The method has been successfully applied to a preclinical pharmacokinetic study in rats after a single intravenous (2 mg/kg) and oral (50 mg/kg) administration.