Abstract:

A pharmacokinetic study of di-(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) was carried out in pubertal mice. The serum of
pubertal mice was collected after oral administration of DEHP at a dose of 300 mg/kg, and DEHP was extracted from the
serum samples and purified by solid phase extraction (SPE). The DEHP concentrations in serum at different time points
were assayed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and the pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated by
3p97 software. The major pharmacokinetic parameters of DEHP in pubertal mice were obtained as follows: ρmax (0.476 ±
0.028) μg/mL, Tpeak (2.539 ± 0.424) h, AUC(0-t) (32.209 ± 11.220) h·μg/mL, t1/2α (1.886 ± 0.480) h, and t1/2β (36.473 ±
8.324) h. The method presented is sensitive, accurate and fast, and can meet the requirements for the pharmacokinetic study
of DEHP in pubertal mice. The pharmacokinetics of DEHP in pubertal mice was found to be fitted to a two-compartment
open model with first order absorption and DEHP reveals the quick distribution and slow elimination.

Key words: pharmacokinetics, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, solid-phase extraction, di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP)