Determination of scoparone in rat plasma by liquid chromatography and its application to pharmacokinetics

A simple liquid chromatographic method was developed to study the pharmacokinetics of scoparone in the rat plasma. After addition of an internal standard (ferulic acid), plasma was deproteinized by acetonitrile for sample clean-up. The drugs were separated on a reverse phase column and detected by UV detection at a wavelength 340 nm. Acetonitrile-water (30:70, v/v, pH 3.5 adjusted by orthophosphoric acid) was used as a mobile phase. It was applied to the pharmacokinetic study of scoparone in rats after a dose of 5 mg kg(-1) intravenous administration. A biphasic phenomenon with a rapid distribution followed by a slower elimination phase was observed from the plasma concentration-time curve.