We developed an HPLC method to study the pharmacokinetics ofpuerarin in Beagle dogs after oral administration of puerarin or puerarin mixed micelles （PMMS）. Beagle dogs were divided into two groups randomly, and the blood samples were collected at fixed time intervals after single oral administration ofpuerarin or PMMS at a dosage of 120 mg/kg. Following sample preparation, analytes were separated on a C18 column （DIKMA, 150 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm） with a guard column （DIKMA, 8 mm×4 mm） and eluted with methanol-water （25：75, v/v）. Theophylline was used as the internal standard. WinNonlin 6.1 （Pharsight, USA） was used to calculate the pharrnacokinetic parameters. The pharmacokinetic parameters for puerarin and PMMS in Beagle dogs were as follows： AUC, 515.96 and 2796.43 min μg/mL; Tmax, 61.48 and 202.91 min; CL/F, 232.58 and 42.91 mL/min/kg, respectively. The relative bioavailability of PMMS to puerarin was 542.0%. Our results showed that the mixed micelle preparation significantly improved the bioavailability of puerarin by delaying absorption and reducing clearance.
