title: Sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry method for determination of steviol in rat plasma.
abstract: The main toxicological concern of stevioside, a highly potent sweetener from S. rebaudiana, is its main metabolite, steviol. To determine very low levels of steviol in in vivo experiments, a sensitive liquid chromatography/atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry (LC/APCI-MS) method was developed for quantifying steviol in rat plasma after oral administration of a single dose of stevioside (0.5 g/kg). The sample preparation uses liquid-liquid extraction with tert-butyl methyl ether in an acidic environment. The retention time of steviol was 10.5 min. The assay was linear over the range 2-1000 ng/mL with a lower limit of detection of 1 ng/mL. The intra- and inter-day precision were <5 and <7%, respectively, and the accuracy was in the range 95-108%. The steviol concentration profile in rat plasma was determined.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, National University of Singapore, 18 Medical Drive, Bldg. MD2, Singapore 117597, Singapore.
authors.forename: L Z
authors.initials: LZ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: B C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Goh
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000818:Animals; D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D004224:Diterpenes / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D045786:Diterpenes, Kaurane; D005960:Glucosides / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008297:Male; D008657:Metabolic Clearance Rate; D008832:Microchemistry / Q000379:methods*; D010949:Plasma / Q000737:chemistry*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D004224:Diterpenes; D045786:Diterpenes, Kaurane; D005960:Glucosides; C012043:stevioside; C012042:steviol