Abstract: Aim To establish a sensitive and specific liquid chromatography-mass s pectrometry method for determination of scutellarin in rabbit plasma after oral administration. Methods For the quantitative analysis, rutin was used as an internal standard and solid-phase extraction (SPE) was performe d by using a Phenomenex C8 cartridge. HPLC was carried out using a Zorbax Exte nd-C18 column (150 mm×2.1 mm ID, 5 μm) with a guard cartridge (Phenomenex). Gradient elution was selected with the mobile phase of methanol 10 mmol·L^-1 ammonium acetate solution (pH adjusted to 8.0 with ammonia soluti on). The flow rate of mobile phase was 0.4 mL·min^-1 and the column temperatur e was 35 ºC. Both scutellarin a nd the internal standard rutin in rabbit plasma extracts were detected by mass s pectrometry using an ESI interface in the negative ion mode. Results The linear range was from 2 to 200 ng·mL^-1, with acceptable accuracy and precision (RSD). Conclusion A sensitive, reliable and accurate method for the quantitati on of scutellarin in rabbit plasma has been established.

Key words: scutellarin, scutellarin, LC-MS, LC-MS, SPE, SPE, breviscapine, breviscapine