Pharmacokinetics study of bio-adhesive tablet of Panax notoginseng saponins

Panax notoginseng saponin (PNS) is the main active gradient of Chinese traditional medicine Panax notoginseng. Although its prominent therapeutic efficacy has been demonstrated by various researchers, the broader application is restricted by the low bioavailability of PNS. This article aims to discuss PNS's plasma pharmacokinetics after oral administration of bio-adhesive tablet of PNS to beagle dogs and improve its bioavailability in comparison with normal tablet. The bio-adhesive tablet was prepared according to our previous patent, using chitosan as main excipient. A simple and sensitive LC-MS/MS combined with solid-phase extraction (SPE) method for the analysis of PNS in dog's plasma was developed in our previous study, and was validated to apply in the pharmacokinetics study in this work. Three ingredients: Notoginsenoside R1 (R1), Ginsenoside Rg1 (Rg1) and Ginsenoside Rb1 (Rb1) (Figure 1), were chosen as indicators of PNS to analyze it in vivo. Statistically significant increase (P < 0.05) in pharmacokinetic parameters of PNS including AUC and Tmax for R1, Rg1 and Rb1, Cmax for R1 and Rb1, MRT for Rg1 were obtained after oral administration of bio-adhesive tablet of PNS comparing with its normal tablet. The formulation modification of using chitosan to prepare bio-adhesive tablet for oral administration is effective in improving the bioavailability of PNS, thereby enhancing its potential therapeutic effect and broadening its clinical application.