Multi-component profiles through the blood-brain barrier in rat after oral administration of over-the-counter drug Keke capsule by ultra-performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole- time-of-flight MS method.

Keke capsule as a traditional Chinese medicine formulation is used to relieve cough, for analgesia and to reduce bronchial asthma. The multi-components are absorbed into the blood and brain after oral administration of Keke capsule, with no systematic investigation so far. A reliable and rapid UPLC-QTOF-MS combined with a data processing software platform was used to characterize the components of Keke capsule and simultaneously identify bioactive components in blood and brain tissues in rat after oral administration. Consequently, a total of 41 components of Keke capsule, including alkaloids, flavone, flavonols, triterpene, lignanoid, organic acids, glycosides and coumarin were identified. Twenty-one components were found in plasma, including 18 prototypes and three metabolites; 15 components were found in brain tissues, including 10 prototypes and five metabolites. Alkaloids and flavonoids in Keke capsule were the main components which were absorbed into blood. The main alkaloids of Keke capsule can pass through the blood-brain barrier and show different distribution tendencies in brain tissues. The main components of keke capsule was simultaneously analyzed by throughput analysis, and the corresponding bioactive components were examined by blood-brain barrier in the rat after oral administration of the capsule.