PAMPA permeability, plasma protein binding, blood partition, pharmacokinetics and metabolism of formononetin, a methoxylated isoflavone

Formononetin (FMN) is a methoxylated isoflavone which is the major constituent in red clover and in commercially available extracts of this plant. In this study, we investigated the parallel artificial membrane permeability assay (PAMPA) permeability, protein binding, blood uptake characteristics, pharmacokinetics and metabolism of FMN. The permeability study samples were analyzed by HPLC–PDA method; whereas the pharmacokinetic study, protein binding and whole blood partitioning samples were analyzed by LC–MS/MS method. The PAMPA permeability of FMN was found to be high at pH 4.0 and 7.0. Plasma protein binding of FMN was found to be 93.61 ± 0.44% and 96.14 ± 0.15% at the tested concentration of 50 and 150 ng/mL, respectively. FMN reached equilibrium fast between red blood cells (RBCs) and plasma, and the partition coefficients between RBCs and plasma (KRBC/PL) were independent of the initial rat blood concentrations of FMN. The bioavailability of unchanged/free FMN was found to be poor, i.e. approximately 3%. FMN was found to have a high clearance (5.13 L/h/kg) and a large apparent volume of distribution (14.16 L/kg). Circulating conjugates (glucuronides/sulfates) of FMN and daidzein (DZN) were quantified using enzymatic hydrolysis of plasma samples. The levels of isoflavone glucuronides/sulfates were found to be much greater than that of the corresponding aglycones.