Simultaneous determination of trans-resveratrol-3-O-glucoside and its two metabolites in rat plasma using liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection

A sensitive and selective high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for simultaneous determination of trans-resveratrol-3-O-glucoside (TRG) and its metabolites, trans-resveratrol-3-O-glucuronide (TRN) and trans-resveratrol (TR) in rat plasma. The plasma proteins were precipitated with acetonitrile and supernatant was evaporated to dryness. The analytes and internal standard baicalin were chromatographed on a C18 column. The mobile phase consisted of 25% acetonitrile and 75% H2O adjusted with formic acid to pH 3.5. The flow-rate was 1.0 ml/min and ultraviolet detection was set at 320 nm. Standard curves were linear over the concentration range of 0.04–40 μg/ml for TRG and TRN, and 0.04–10 μg/ml for TR, respectively. The precision, expressed as the intra-day R.S.D. and inter-day R.S.D., was below 9.3% for TRG, TRN and TR. The accuracy, expressed as the relative error (RE) was within ±7.4% for all analytes. The mean recoveries of TRG, TRN, TR and I.S. were 93.6%, 93.1%, 91.0% and 87.9%, respectively. This method was successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study of TRG after an oral dose of 150 mg/kg to Wistar rats.