The alkaloid, rhynchophylline (RHY), from the stems and hooks of Uncaria rhynchophylla was revealed in recent years to have protective effect on neuronal damage. The present research was carried out to investigate the in vivo metabolism of this bioactive alkaloid. After administering RHY to rats, LC-MS detected RHY in plasma, bile, brain, urine and feces, the glucuronides, 11-hydroxyrhynchophylline 11-O-beta-D-glucuronide (M1) and 10-hydroxyrhynchophylline 10-O-beta-D-glucuronide (M2) in bile, and 11-hydroxyrhynchophylline (M3) and 10-hydroxyrhynchophylline (M4) in urine and feces. Within 24 h, 78.0% of RHY was excreted into the feces and 12.6% into the urine of rats after oral administration of 37.5 mg/kg. Monitoring by LC-MS showed that 9.4% of RHY was metabolized to M3 and M4 in a ratio of about 1 : 1. RHY was also detected in the brain (0.650 ng/g) at 3 h after oral administration of the same dose. Cytochrome P450 (CYP) in rat liver microsomes played a key role in RHY hydroxylation. Specific inhibition of CYP isozymes indicated that CYP2D, CYP1A1/2 and CYP2C participated in RHY hydroxylation, but not CYP3A.