Determination and Preliminary Studies of Metabolism of Berberine in Human Urine After Oral Administration

A normal phase liquid chromatographic method (flurorescent detector) for determinating berberine (BER) concentration in human urine was reported. The 13-methylberberine was used as the internal standard. A mixture of dichloromethane - methanoldiethyl amine-acetic acid (90: 9:0:4:0.5) was served as the mobile phase. The dynamic change of excretion of BER in urine after oral administration of 0.2 g BER.HCL tablets in single dosage was observed and MRT and AUC was calculed to be 32.63 ± 6. 15 h and 27.49 ± 4.74 u g by statistical moment theory. Furthermore there were four metabolites of berberine chloride in human urine were detected for the first time.