Characterization of the pharmacokinetics of dioscin in rat.

Abstract Dioscin (diosgenyl 2,4-di- O -α- l -rhamnopyranosyl-β- d -glucopyranoside) is an important constituent of some traditional Chinese medicines with several bioactivities. We have investigated the pharmacokinetics of dioscin in rat after intravenous and oral administrations. Compartmental methods were used to perform pharmacokinetic data analysis. The dose-dependent pharmacokinetics of dioscin was characterized after intravenous administrations (0.064, 0.16, 0.4 and 1.0 mg/kg) to rats. There was significant decrease in clearance with increasing dose (4.67 ± 0.09 ml/min/kg (0.064 mg/kg) versus 3.49 ± 0.23 ml/min/kg (1.0 mg/kg), P r  = 0.909, P