Comparative Pharmacokinetics and Bioavailability of Epimedin C in Rat after Intramuscular Administration of Epimedin C,a Combination of Four Flavonoid Glycosides and Purified Herba Epimedii Extract

Chuan-ke-zhi (ckz),a purified herba epimedii extract,is a potent chinese medicine preparation whose main bioactive components are a class of flavonoid glycosides such as epimedins a,b,and c and icariin. and epimedin c is far more abundant than other flavones in this extract. this study aims to investigate the pharmacokinetic and bioavailability of epimedin c and what effects,if any,other ingredients in ckz have on its pharmacokinetics. epimedin c,ckz,and a combination of epimedins a,b,and c and icariin were,respectively,administrated to rats,and then the pharmacokinetic parameters of epimedin c in the three groups were calculated and compared. the result indicated that c l z,m r t 0 - ∞,and a u c 0 - ∞ of epimedin c were significantly different among the three groups (p < 0.05),and compared with the epimedin c group,the absorption of epimedin c significantly increased in the ckz group. furthermore,in this study the absolute bioavailability of epimedin c was also investigated by comparing intramuscular and intravenous administration of epimedin c. as a result,epimedin c could be quickly absorbed with extremely high absolute bioavailability after intramuscular administration. © 2016 shunjun xu et al.