The Pharmacokinetics and Bio-distribution Studied by Simultaneous Analysis of Curcumin and Paclitaxel in Biosamples

A simple, rapid, sensitive, robust and reproducible and specific high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis method for the simultaneous determination of Curcumin (CU) and Paclitaxel (PTX) was developed and validated. After pretreating with citric acid/trisodium citrate (CA) buffer (pH 3.6) as stabilizer and extracting from the biosamples with ethyl acetate/methanol (90/10, v/v), CU and PTX were chromatographed on a Luna C18 column (4.6 mm × 250 mm, 5 µm) at a flow rate of 1 mL·min−1 with acetonitrile (A)/triethylamine phosphate buffer (pH 3.5; 0.012 M) (B) as the mobile phase by variable wavelength and gradient elution method of 0–9.5 (min)/55% A–45% B at 425 nm, 9.51–11.5 (min)/40% A–60% B at 227 nm, 11.51–19.0 (min)/55% A–45% B at 425 nm. The method was validated related to linearity, accuracy, precision and stability. After pretreatment, CU and PTX were stable in biological samples at room temperature for 24 h and at – 20 °C storage for 7 days. Besides, compared to CU or PTX alone, an altered pharmacokinetics in rabbits and bio-distribution behavior in rats by co-administration were observed, and its influence rules and mechanisms still need further study.