Stereoselective and simultaneous analysis of ginsenosides from ginseng berry extract in rat plasma by UPLC-MS/MS: Application to a pharmacokinetic study of ginseng berry extract

The role of ginseng berry extract (GBE) has been attributed to its anti-hyperglycemic effect in humans. However, the pharmacokinetic characteristics of GBE constitutes after oral GBE administration have not been established yet. In this study, stereoselective and simultaneous analytical methods for 10 ginsenosides (ginsenoside Rb1, Rb2, Rc, Rd, Re, Rg1, S-Rg2, R-Rg2, S-Rg3, and R-Rg3) were developed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography, coupled with electrospray ionization triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS), for the pharmacokinetic study of GBE. Furthermore, the pharmacokinetic profiles of 10 ginsenosides after oral GBE were evaluated in rats. All analytes were detected with a linear concentration range of 0.01–10 µg/mL. Lower limits of detection (LLOD) and quantification (LLOQ) were 0.003 and 0.01 µg/mL, respectively, for all 10 ginsenosides. This established method was adequately validated in linearity, sensitivity, intra- and inter-day precision, accuracy, recovery, matrix effect, and stability. Relative standard deviations for all intra- and inter-precision of the 10 ginsenosides were below 11.5% and accuracies were 85.3–111%, which were sufficient to evaluate the pharmacokinetic study of oral GBE in rats. We propose that Rb1, Rb2, Rc, Rd, Re, Rg1, S-Rg2, R-Rg2 and/or S-Rg3 were appropriate pharmacokinetic markers of systemic exposure following oral GBE administration.