OBJECTIVE To study the pharmacokinetics of puerarin and three unknown components in pueraria flavonoid (PF) in normal and cerebral ischemia-reperfusion rats METHODS The blood samples at different times after administration were collected. The plasma concentrations of PF were determined by fluorescence spectrophotometer and those of puerarin and three unknown components were determined by RP-HPLC. The pharmacokinetic parameters were accessed by 3P87 RESULTS PF and puerarin were disposed as one-compartment model in normal and cerebral ischemia-reperfusion rats. In normal and cerebral ischemia-reperfusion rats, t^1/2 of PF and puerarin were (34.3±11.8) and (43.7±24.1)min；(11.6±1.2) and (15.8±2.1)min respectively CONCLUSION There were many differences in pharmacokinetic parameters of PF and puerarin between normal and cerebral ischemia-reperfusion rats. The concentrations of PF and puerarin in ischemia-repefusion rats were higher and t^1/2 were longer than in normal rats. The differences of pharmacokinetics among puerarin, the unknown A, B and C were not significant which suggested that pharmacokinetics of puerarin in rats could be representative of the components with similar structure.