GC-MS/MS method for determination and pharmacokinetics of sclareol in rat plasma after intravenous administration

Sclareol, mainly isolated from Salvia officinalis, has a variety of pharmacological effects. In this work, a sensitive and rapid gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) method was first developed and validated for the determination and pharmacokinetics of sclareol in rat plasma. The chromatographic seperation of biosamples was performed with an HP-5MS column. Ethyl acetate was selected as the solvent to extract analytes from rat plasma. The multiple reaction monitoring transitions for sclareol and dehydrocostuslactone (Internal Standard, IS) were m/z 177 -* 121 and m/z 230 -* 173, respectively. The intra- and inter- precision, accuracy, matrix effect, recovery and stability meet the method requirements for biological sample analysis. The lowest limit of quantification (LLOQ) of the developed method for sclareol determination was 20 ng/mL. After intravenous administration (5.0 mg/kg) of sclareol to the rats, its drug clearance (CLz) and elimination half-life (t1/2z) was 2.7 +/- 1.3 L/h/kg and 6.0 +/- 4.6 h, respectively. The apparent volume of distribution (Vz) was 21.4 +/- 12.9 L/ kg, which indicated that sclareol was mainly distributed in extracellular fluid. Our results provided useful information for the further pharmacological investigation and preclinical studies of sclareol.