Microanalysis, Pharmacokinetics and Tissue Distribution of Polysaccharide-Protein Complexes from Longan Pulp in Mice

A high performance size exclusion-fluorescence detection (HPSEC-FD) method combined with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) prelabeling was established for the microanalysis of polysaccharide–protein complexes from longan pulp (LPP). FITC-labeled LPP (LPPF) was fractionated by gel filtration chromatography. The weight-average molecular weight and FITC substitution degree of LPPF were 39.01 kDa and 0.20%, respectively. The HPSEC-FD calibration curves linear over the range of 1–200 µg/mL in mouse plasma, spleen and lung samples with correlation coefficients greater than 0.995. The inter-day and intra-day precisions of the method were not more than 6.9%, and the relative recovery ranged from 93.7% to 106.4%. The concentration–time curve of LPPF in plasma following intravenous (i.v.) administration at 40 mg/kg body weight well fitted to a two-compartment model. LPPF rapidly eliminated from plasma according to the short half-lives (t(1/2α) = 2.23 min, t(1/2β) = 39.11 min) and mean retention times (MRT(0–t) = 1.15 h, MRT(0–∞) = 1.39 h). After administration over 5 to 360 min, the concentration of LPPF in spleen homogenate decreased from 7.41 to 3.68 µg/mL; the concentration in lung homogenate decreased from 9.08 to 3.40 µg/mL. On the other hand, the increasing concentration of LPPF fraction with low molecular weight in heart homogenate was observed.