A Simple and Rapid HPLC‐MS/MS Method for Quantification of 15,16‐Dihydrotanshinone I in Plasma and the Application to Pharmacokinetic Study

In this study, a rapid and simple HPLC-MS/MS method was developed for the quantification of 15,16-dihydrotanshinone I (DHTS) in rat plasma. DHTS was well retained and separated from the polar endogenous components on a C18 column, and a triple-quadrupole mass spectrometry equipped with an electrospray ionization (ESI) source was applied for quantification. A simple protein precipitation pretreatment method could provide high extraction recovery (from 93.6% to 98.4%) and negligible matrix. The method demonstrated excellent linearity across the concentration range of 0.1~1000.0 ng/mL for DHTS. The precision and accuracy were within acceptable limits. The lowest limit of quantification (LLOQ) was determined to be 0.1 ng/mL. This simple method was validated and successfully applied to support the pharmacokinetics study after DHTS was administered to the Sprague-Dawley rats.