Analysis of the distribution of β-asarone in rat hippocampus, brainstem, cortex and cerebellum with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS)

The β-asarone was a major component of Acorus tatarinowii Schott which had significant pharmacological effects on the central nervous system (CNS). We have reported that β-asarone can pass through the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and then go into the brain tissues in the 2002. However, the β-asarone in the brain blood was not excluded, which might lead to a false positive result. In this study, we used the cardio-perfusion method to exclude the β-asarone in the brain blood then examined the brain tissues with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Meanwhile we hypothesized that the β-asarone could be widely distributed without target regions in the brain. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed the distribution of β-asarone in rat hippocampus, brainstem, cortex and cerebellum. We found that β-asarone could be detected in rat hippocampus, brainstem, cortex and cerebellum but the βasarone amount was less than our previous results, which indicated the β-asarone in brain blood had affected the assay of β-asarone in the brain tissues. Meanwhile, we found that distribution of β-asarone among the hippocampus, brainstem, cortex and cerebellum did not have significant differences. We concluded that β-asarone could pass through BBB and be widely distributed without target regions in the brain.