The systematic studies on pharmacokinetics of the herbal medicine Panax notoginseng (Sanqi) was published in the recent issue of Drug Metabolism and Disposition(DMD, 2009, 37: 2290-2298), and was highlighted as the cover paper. The study was completed by Dr Chuan Li’s group of Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica.

　　How to evaluate the systematic exposure of the body to the multi-component herba, and how to study the structure-pharmacokinetics relationship are the two key scientific issues to perform pharmacokinetic research on an herbal medicine. Focusing on these two issues, the study elucidated the pharmacokinetic properties of the active ginsenosides and identified the pharmacokinetic markers (PK markers) in the PK study with rats treated with oral administration of Sanqi extract. The research group also studied the structure-pharmacokinetics of saponins, and found the key factors leading different absorption and disposition behaviors among different ginsenosides.

　　PK marker is a new concept firstly presented by Dr Chuan Li’s group (DMD 2008, 36: 1578–1586) to evaluate the systemic exposure of the body to the multi-component herb. It has provided a new strategy to comprehensive pharmacokinetic studies on herbs.