Identification of in vitro and in vivo metabolites of isoimperatorin using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry

The objective of the present study was to develop a practical strategy for the identification of metabolites following the in vivo metabolism and in vitro microbial biotransformation of isoimperatorin using liquid chromatography hybrid triple quadrupole-linear ion trap mass spectrometry (LC/QTRAP–MS) and liquid chromatography time of flight mass spectrometry (LC/TOF–MS). As a result, 19 metabolites were characterised in rat urine, plasma, bile and faeces after the oral administration of isoimperatorin and 13 products were identified in the sample from the transformation. Four metabolites were prepared by in vitro microbial biotransformation, and one was confirmed to be a novel compound. The side chain of isoimperatorin was found to be the primary metabolic site that underwent oxidation metabolism both in vivo and in vitro, and the metabolism of isoimperatorin in vivo and in vitro has good correlation. This is the first study of the metabolism of isoimperatorin in vivo.