Effect of natural borneol on the pharmacokinetics and distribution of nimodipine in mice.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of natural borneol (NB) on the pharmacokinetics and distribution of nimodipine in mice. A single dose of nimodipine was administered intravenously (2 mg/kg) to mice pretreated with NB (250 mg/kg) or vehicle. Blood as well as brain, liver, and kidney tissue samples were collected at 5, 10, 20, 40, and 60 min post-dose nimodipine. The concentrations of nimodipine in plasma and tissues were determined by ultra performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) coupled with UV detection, and the pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated based on non-compartmental analysis. NB increased the plasma AUC5-60 min by 26 % compared to the vehicle. In addition, brain concentrations of nimodipine in NB-treated mice were significantly higher than those in control mice with the increased AUC5-60 min by 30 %. In liver and kidney, NB also caused 26 and 47 % increase in AUC5-60 min, respectively. These results implicated that NB may inhibit the metabolism or elimination of nimodipine and enhance its distribution in brain and kidney tissue.