Pharmacokinetic Study of Ferulic Acid Following Transdermal or Intragastric Administration in Rats

Ferulic acid is contained in some Chinese herbal medicines such as Ligusticum chuanxiong or Angelica sinensis. Studies have focused on the treatment of inflammatory diseases and pain using ferulic acid. However, little is known about its pharmacokinetics after transdermal administration. The present research investigated the pharmacokinetic behavior of ferulic acid in rat plasma and skin microdialysate after ferulic acid transdermal or intragastric administration. Samples collected at predetermined time points were determined by a simple and sensitive HPLC-UV method. The pharmacokinetic parameters were estimated using non-compartmental analysis with DAS 2.0 software. The values of AUC_0-t and C_max after intragastric administration (20 mg/kg) in plasma were 281.47 ± 46.76 min mg/L and 12.20 ± 2.46 mg/L, respectively. After emulsion transdermal administration (117 mg/kg, 35 mg/4 cm²), the values of AUC_0-t and C_max in plasma and skin microdialysate were 953.90 ± 175.30 min mg/L, 7630.47 ± 1410.33 min mg/L, 3.00 ± 0.61 mg/L, and 19.08 ± 4.39 mg/L, respectively. Here, we show a promising delivery system for ferulic acid that could replace traditional administration, and a better understanding of the transdermal pharmacokinetics of ferulic acid, which may be helpful for further clinical and laboratory studies.