Sensitive liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method for the determination of scutellarin in human plasma: Application to a pharmacokinetic study

A sensitive and selective liquid chromatographic–tandem mass spectrometric (LC–MS/MS) method for the determination of scutellarin in human plasma has been developed. Samples were prepared using solid phase extraction and analyzed on a C18 column interfaced with a triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer. Positive electrospray ionization was employed as the ionization source. The mobile phase consisted of methanol–water (0.1% formic acid), using gradient procedure. The analyte and internal standard baicalin were both detected by use of selected reaction monitoring mode. The method was linear in the concentration range of 0.2–20.0 ng/mL. The lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) was 0.2 ng/mL. The intra- and inter-day relative standard deviation across three validation runs over the entire concentration range was less than 12.4%. The accuracy determined at three concentrations (1.0, 5.0 and 10.0 ng/mL for scutellarin) was within ±5.0% in terms of relative error. The method herein described was successfully applied for the evaluation of pharmacokinetic profiles of scutellarin guttate pills in 20 healthy volunteers.