Absorption and distribution of lupeol in CD-1 mice evaluated by UPLC-APCI⁺ -MS/MS

Lupeol is a dietary triterpene that shows limited water solubility, which affects its bioavailability. It is well known that poor oral bioavailability is one of the major causes of therapeutic variability. Lupeol has been reported to have multiple biological activities; however, there are no reports about its bioavailability. Therefore, the objective of this research was to evaluate the systemic bioavailability of lupeol. An experimental strategy with three groups of female CD-1 strain mice was proposed (control, olive oil and lupeol in olive oil), at six experimental times (0.5, 2, 4, 8, 12 and 24 h) with four animals per experimental point. Mice were sacrificed for organs, urine, feces and blood collection. Lupeol was extracted from samples and analyzed by UPLC-APCI⁺ -MS/MS, obtaining the pharmacokinetics parameters time to peak concentration 6.444 ± 0.851 h and peak concentration 8.071 ± 2.930 μg/mL. Study of direct digestion and absorption in various organs showed important concentrations of lupeol at earlier post-administration times (stomach, 137.25 ± 19.94 ng/mg and small intestine, 99.00 ± 12.99 ng/mg). The main excretion route was fecal, with a peak at 12 h post-administration (163.28 ± 9.83 μg/mg). Absorption of lupeol by the animals was better than expected despite its nonpolar nature (extent of absorption F = 0.645 ± 0.0581).