We investigated the pharmacokinetics of ferulic acid, a potential antioxidant agent, after intravenous (i.v.) bolus administration in rats. To analyze ferulic acid levels in the plasma, bile, urine and tissue samples, we developed an HPLC-based method which was validated for a pharmacokinetic study by suitable criteria. After i.v. bolus administration of ferulic acid, it rapidly disappeared from blood circulation within 15 min. The mean plasma half-lives at α phase (t1/2α) when administered at doses of 2 and 10 mg/ kg were 1.10 and 1.39 min, respectively. The values of t1/2β at the corresponding doses increased 40% (from 5.02 to 7.01 min) with increasing doses. The total body clearance (CLt) values significantly decreased as the ferulic acid dose increased. On the other hand, steady-state volume of distribution (Vdss) values did not show the significant difference with the increase in dose. Of the various tissues, ferulic acid mainly distributed to the liver and kidney after i.v. bolus administration. The ferulic acid concentrations in various tissues at 2 hr after i.v. bolus administration were below 1.0 μg/g tissue. Ferulic acid was excreted in the bile and urine after i.v. bolus administration at the dose of 10 mg/kg. The cumulative amount of ferulic acid in the bile 2 hr after dosage was comparable with the amount excreted in the urine after 72 hr, indicating that i.v. administered ferulic acid was mainly excreted in the both bile and urine. In conclusion, ferulic acid was rapidly cleared from the circulating blood and transferred to tissues such as the liver and kidney after i.v. bolus administration. Moreover, the majority of ferulic acid appears to be excreted in the bile and urine after i.v. bolus administration.

감귤류의 껍질은 플라보노이드의 중요한 소스 중의 하나로서 동아시아에서 내장 및 염증성 질환을 치료하는 민간 의약품으로서 사용되어 왔다. 본 연구에서는 하귤 (C. natsudaidai) 껍질에 포함되어 있는 플라보노이드 성분을 고성능액체크로마토그래피-이중질량분석법 (HPLC-MS/MS)으로 10 개성분을 동정하였다. 플라바논, 플라본 및 쿠마린 유도체는 각각 hesperetin, noviletin 및 coumarin을 사용하여 유효화 하였으며 유효화된 방법으로 정량하였다. 상관계수 (r2)는 > 0.9970으로서 높은 값을 보여주었다. LOD는 >0.01 mg/L이었으며 LOQ는 >0.05 mg/L이었다. 플라보노이드의 총량은 9229.7 ± 0.5 mg/kg 이었다. Naringin의 량이 5010.0 ± 4.5 mg/kg으로 가장 많았으며 sinensetin의 량이 0.6 ± 0.1 mg/kg으로 가장 적었다. 항산화력을 25 μg/mL 에서 500 μg/mL의 농도범위에서 DPPH·, ABTS·+, NO· 소거능 및 FRAP의 항으로 분석하였다. 감귤 플라보노이드의 항산화 능력은 시료의 량이 증가하면 증가함을 알 수 있다.