Comparative pharmacokinetics of sixteen components following oral administration of raw and processed Viticis Fructus in rats

Viticis Fructus (VF) is an herbal medicine widely applied in both raw and processed forms. To elucidate the pharmacokinetic differences among raw VF, stir-fried Viticis Fructus (F-VF) and wine-processed Viticis Fructus (W-VF), an ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) method was established to simultaneously determine the concentrations of 16 compounds in rat plasma. Method validation showed that this method exhibited good linearity, precision, accuracy, stability, extraction recovery, and matrix effect. Results showed that compared with the VF, F-VF significantly increased the Cmax and AUC of chlorogenic acid, agnuside, isoorientin and luteolin (p < 0.01) and prolonged the T1/2 of agnuside (p < 0.01). W-VF shortened the Tmax of vanillic acid and protocatechuic acid, but significantly reduced the Cmax and AUC of p-hydroxybenzoic acid, casticin and agnuside (p < 0.01). This study will provide guidance for optimising the selection of VF and its processed products, so as to achieve personalised therapeutic effects.