Effects of Silymarin on the In Vivo Pharmacokinetics of Simvastatin and Its Active Metabolite in Rats

Herein, the effect of silymarin pretreatment on the pharmacokinetics of simvastatin in rats was evaluated. To ensure the accuracy of the results, a rapid and sensitive UPLC–MS/MS method was established for simultaneous quantification of simvastatin (SV) and its active metabolite simvastatin acid (SVA). This method was applied for studying the pharmacokinetic interactions in rats after oral co-administration of silymarin (45 mg/kg) and different concentrations of SV. The major pharmacokinetic parameters, including Cmax, tmax, t(1/2), mean residence time (MRT), elimination rate constant (λz) and area under the concentration-time curve (AUC(0–12h)), were calculated using the non-compartmental model. The results showed that the co-administration of silymarin and SV significantly increased the Cmax and AUC(0–12h) of SVA compared with SV alone, while there was no significant difference with regards to Tmax and t(1/2). However, SV pharmacokinetic parameters were not significantly affected by silymarin pretreatment. Therefore, these changes indicated that drug-drug interactions may occur after co-administration of silymarin and SV.