Validation of the LC-MS/MS method for ginsenoside Rb1 analysis in human plasma

A new liquid chromatographic tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) assay for the quantification of ginsenoside Rb1 in human plasma was developed and validated. The separation was performed on a Agilent C18 column (4.6 mm×150 mm, particle size 5 μm) with a gradient elution of 0.1% formic acid in water and 0.1% formic acid in methanol and a flow rate of 0.9 mL/min. The analyte was determined using electrospray positive ionization mass spectrometry in the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode (m/z 1131.714→365.303). Human plasma samples were extracted with acetone: water (50:50) by the liquid-liquid extraction method. The method was linear over the dynamic range of 10~500 ng/mL with a correlation coefficient of r=0.9995. The intra-and inter-day precision over the concentration range of ginsenoside Rb1 was lower than 5.8% (correlation of variance, CV), and the accuracy was between 96.0~104.6%. This LC-MS/MS assay of ginsenoside Rb1 in human plasma is applicable for quantification in a pharmacokinetic study.