Simultaneous quantification of alpha-/beta-diastereomers of arteether, sulphadoxine and pyrimethamine: a promising anti-relapse antimalarial therapeutic combination, by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

A rapid, sensitive, selective and specific HPLC/ESI-MS/MS assay method was developed and validated for the simultaneous quantitation of alpha-/beta-diastereomers of arteether (AE), sulphadoxine (SDX) and pyrimethamine (PYR) in rat blood plasma using propyl ether analogue of beta-arteether as internal standard. The method involved a single-step, liquid-liquid extraction with ethyl acetate and the analytes were chromatographed on a C18 chromatographic column by isocratic elution with methanol:ammonium acetate buffer (10 mM, pH 4) (90:10%, v/v) and analyzed by tandem mass spectrometry. The run time was 4.5 min and the weighted (1/x2) calibration curves were linear over a range of 0.78-400 ng ml-1. The method was validated fully and the lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) in plasma was 0.78 ng ml-1 for all the analytes. The intra- and inter-day precision and accuracy were found to be well within the acceptable limits (<15%) and the analytes were stable after three freeze-thaw (f-t) cycles. The absolute recoveries were consistent and reproducible. The assay method was applied to pre-clinical pharmacokinetic interaction studies of alpha-/beta-AE, SDX and PYR in rats.     

Measurement of total mirtazapine and normirtazapine in plasma/serum by liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection

A simple high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for the measurement of the new antidepressant mirtazapine and its N-demethyl metabolite, normirtazapine, in human plasma or serum during low dose mirtazapine therapy has been developed. A Waters Spherisorb S5 SCX column was used with ammonium perchlorate (50 mmol/l) in methanol/water (95 + 5 (v/v)), apparent pH 6.7, as eluent, and fluorescence detection. Only small volumes of sample (0.2 ml) and extraction solvent are used. An interference study found no significant co-elution with drug or metabolite, although paroxetine co-elutes with the internal standard. The recovery of mirtazapine and normirtazapine (mean +/- S.D.) was 79 +/- 2, and 64 +/- 3%, respectively. The LOD was estimated as 0.5 microg/l, LLOQ was 1 microg/l, with a linear response over the concentration range 4-1000 microg/l (both analytes). The analytes were stable in serum for at least 10 months when stored at -20 degrees C. Intra- and inter-day accuracy were in the range 91-107 and 93-103%, respectively. In clinical samples (n = 14, median mirtazapine dose 45 mg per day, range 15-45 mg per day) the median (range) mirtazapine and normirtazapine concentrations were 26 (8-40) and 21 (8-32) microg/l, respectively.     

A sensitive and selective liquid chromatographic tandem mass spectrometric assay for simultaneous quantification of novel trioxane antimalarials in different biomatrices using sample-pooling approach for high throughput pharmacokinetic studies

In the present studies, to give momentum to traditionally low throughput pharmacokinetic screening, a bioanalytical method based on the concept of sample pooling for simultaneous bioanalysis of multiple compounds is discussed. A sensitive, selective, specific and rapid HPLC/ESI-MS/MS assay method was developed and validated for the simultaneous quantitation of three novel trioxane antimalarials (99-357, 99-408 and 99-411) in rat plasma using trioxane analogue as internal standard. The suitably validated bioanalytical method was then further extrapolated to rabbit and monkey plasma by performing partial validation. Extraction from the plasma involves a simple two-step liquid-liquid extraction with n-hexane. The analytes were chromatographed on a cyano column by isocratic elution with acetonitrile:ammonium acetate buffer (pH 6) (85:15, v/v) and analyzed by mass spectrometry in multiple reaction-monitoring (MRM) mode. The chromatographic run time was 5.5 min and the weighted (1/x(2)) calibration curves were linear over a range of 1.56-200 ng/ml. The limit of detection (LOD) and lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) in rat plasma, rabbit plasma and monkey plasma were 0.78 and 1.56 ng/ml, respectively, for all three analytes. The intra- and inter-batch accuracy and precision in terms of % bias and % relative standard deviation were found to be well within the acceptable limits (< 15%). The average absolute recoveries of 99-357, 99-408 and 99-411 from spiked plasma samples were > 90%, > 70% and > 60%, respectively. The assay method described here could be applied to study the pharmacokinetics of 99-357, 99-408 and 99-411 using sample-pooling technique.     

A sensitive combined assay for the quantification of paclitaxel, docetaxel and ritonavir in human plasma using liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry

A combined assay for the determination of paclitaxel, docetaxel and ritonavir in human plasma is described. The drugs were extracted from 200 μL human plasma using liquid-liquid extraction with tertiar-butylmethylether, followed by high performance liquid chromatography analysis using 10 mM ammonium hydroxide pH 10:methanol (3:7, v/v) as mobile phase. Chromatographic separation was obtained using a Zorbax Extend C(18) column. Labelled analogues of the analytes are used as internal standards. For detection, positive ionization electrospray tandem mass spectrometry was used. Method development including optimisation of the mass transitions and response, mobile phase optimisation and column selection are discussed. The method was validated according to FDA guidelines and the principles of Good Laboratory Practice (GLP). The validated range was 0.5-500 ng/mL for paclitaxel and docetaxel and 2-2000 ng/mL for ritonavir. For quantification, quadratic calibration curves were used (r(2)>0.99). The total runtime of the method is 9 min and the assay combines analytes with differences in ionisation and desired concentration range. Inter-assay accuracy and precision were tested at four concentration levels and were within 10% and less than 10%, respectively, for all analytes. Carry-over was less than 6% and endogenous interferences or interferences between analytes and internal standards were less than 20% of the response at the lower limit of quantification level. The matrix factor and recovery were determined at low, mid and high concentration levels. The matrix factor was around 1 for all analytes and total recovery between 77.5 and 104%. Stability was investigated in stock solutions, human plasma, dry extracts, final extracts and during 3 freeze/thaw cycles. The described method was successfully applied in clinical studies with oral administration of docetaxel or paclitaxel in combination with ritonavir.     

Determination of Rhodamine 123 in rat plasma utilizing liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

Rhodamine 123 (R123), as a typical of P-gp substrate, was widely used to quantify P-glycoprotein (P-gp) functional efflux activity in vivo. A new, rapid and sensitive method was developed for quantifying R123 in rat plasma using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). R123 and Rhodamine 6G (R6G, the internal standard, IS) were extracted from aliquots of plasma with ethyl acetate and dichloromethane (4:1) as the solvent and chromatographic separation was performed using a Zorbax Eclipse Plus C18 column. The mobile phase was composed of A: ammonium formate-formic acid buffer containing 5 mM ammonium formate and 0.1% formic acid and B: methanol (A:B, 5:95, v/v). To quantify R123 and IS respectively, multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) transition of m/z 345.2→285.2 and m/z 443.3→415.2 was performed. The analysis time was 4 min in positive mode; the calibration curve was linear in the concentration range of 1-200 ng/ml. The lowest limit of quantification (LLOQ) reached 1 ng/ml. The intra and inter-day precision were less than 9.2% for the low quality control (QC) level, and 3.4% for other QC levels, respectively, while the intra and inter-day relative errors ranged between -7.4% and 9.1% for three QC concentration levels. The LC-MS/MS method proved to be simple, accurate, reliable and with a shorter running time and has been successfully applied to evaluate the functional activity of P-glycoprotein in an absorption experiment in the rat.     

Simultaneous determination of a novel KDR kinase inhibitor and its N-oxide metabolite in human plasma using 96-well solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry

To support pharmacokinetic studies, a selective and sensitive liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method has been developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of a novel KDR kinase inhibitor (1) and its active metabolite (2) in human plasma. The method is fully automated using a Packard MultiPROBE II system and a TomTec Quadra 96 liquid handling workstation to perform sample preparation and solid-phase extraction (SPE). Following the extraction on a mixed-mode SPE using Oasis MCX 96-well plate, the analytes were separated on a Aquasil C18 column (50 mm x 2.1 mm, i.d., 3 microm) with a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile/ammonium acetate buffer (5 mM, pH 5.0) (60/40, v/v). The run time for each injection was 4.5 min with the retention times of approximately 2.0 and 2.7 min for 1 and 2 respectively, at a flow rate of 0.25 mL/min. A tandem mass spectrometric detection was conducted using multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) under the positive ion mode with a turbo ion-spray interface. The linear ranges of the calibration curves were 0.05-400 ng/mL for 1 and 0.1-400 ng/mL for 2 on a PE Sciex API 4000 LC-MS/MS system. The lower limits of quantitation (LLOQ) of the assay were 0.05 and 0.1 ng/mL for 1 and 2 respectively, when 0.4 mL of plasma was processed. Intra-day assay precision (using five standard curves prepared by spiking compounds to five lots of plasma) was less than 4.9% for 1 and less than 9.6% for 2 on each concentration. Assay accuracy was found to be 95.1-104.6% of nominal for 1 standards and 93.5-105.6% for 2 standards. QC samples were stable when kept at room temperature for 4 h, at -70 degrees C for 10 days, and after three freeze-thaw cycles. The extraction recoveries were 80%, 83% and 84% for 1 and 2 and I.S. respectively, and no significant matrix effects were observed. The method was successfully applied to plasma samples from clinical studies after oral administration of compound 1.     

Development and validation of a liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry method for the determination of DMXAA in human and mouse plasma

A rapid, sensitive, and specific LC/MS/MS-based method was developed for determining the concentration of DMXAA in human and mouse plasma. Sample preparation involved a single protein precipitation step using acetonitrile. Separation of DMXAA and 6-isopropoxy-9-oxoxanthene-2-carboxylic acid, the internal standard, was achieved on a Waters X-Terra C(18) (50 mm x 2.1mm i.d., 3.5 microm) analytical column using a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile/10 mM ammonium acetate (55:45, v/v) containing 0.1% formic acid and isocratic flow at 0.2 mL/min for 3 min. The analytes were monitored by tandem mass spectrometry with electrospray positive ionization. Linear calibration curves were generated over the range of 5-3000 ng/mL. The values for precision and accuracy were <9.6%, except at the LLOQ (5 ng/mL) level, which was within 16.8%. Recovery of DMXAA in mouse plasma was >65%. DMXAA was stable through 2 freeze/thaw cycles, to 2h in mouse plasma or 50% acetonitrile, and on the autosampler to 5.1h. This method was subsequently used to measure concentrations of DMXAA in mice following intraperitoneal administration.     

Development and validation of a liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry assay for the simultaneous determination of nateglinide, cilostazol and its active metabolite 3,4-dehydro-cilostazol in Wistar rat plasma and its application to pharmacokinetic study

Nateglinide (NTG), an insulin secretogogue, has been studied in rats for drug-drug interaction with cilostazol (CLZ), an antiplatelet agent commonly used in diabetics. We developed a liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) based method that is capable of simultaneous monitoring plasma levels of nateglinide, cilostazol, and its active metabolite 3,4-dehydro-cilostazol (DCLZ). All analytes including the internal standard (Repaglinide) were chromatographed on reverse phase C(18) column (50 mm x 4.6mm i.d., 5 microm) using acetonitrile: 2mM ammonium acetate buffer, pH 3.4 (90:10, v/v) as mobile phase at a flow rate 0.4 ml/min in an isocratic mode. The detection of analyte was performed on LC-MS/MS system in the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. The quantitations for analytes were based on relative concentration. The method was validated over the concentration range of 20-2000 ng/ml and the lower limit of quantitation was 20 ng/ml. The recoveries from spiked control samples were >79% for all analytes and internal standard. Intra- and inter-day accuracy and precision of validated method were with in the acceptable limits of <15% at all concentration. The quantitation method was successfully applied for simultaneous estimation of NTG, CLZ and DCLZ in a pharmacokinetic drug-drug interaction study in Wistar rats.     

Determination of metolazone in human blood by liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

A rapid, sensitive and accurate liquid chromatographic-tandem mass spectrometric method is described for the determination of metolazone in human blood. Metolazone was extracted from blood using ethyl acetate and separated on a C18 column interfaced with a triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer. The mobile phase consisting of a mixture of acetonitrile, 10 mmol/l ammonium acetate and formic acid (60:40:0.1, v/v/v) was delivered at a flow rate of 0.5 ml/min. Electrospray ionization (ESI) source was operated in positive ion mode. Selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mode using the transitions of m/z 366-->m/z 259 and m/z 321-->m/z 275 were used to quantify metolazone and the lorazepam (internal standard), respectively. The linearity was obtained over the concentration range of 0.5-500 ng/ml for metolazone and the lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ) was 0.5 ng/ml. For each level of QC samples, inter- and intra-run precision was less than 8.07 and 3.56% (relative standard deviation (RSD)), respectively, and the bias was within +/-4.0%. This method was successfully applied to the pharmacokinetic study of metolazone formulation after oral administration to humans.     

Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric assay with a novel method of quantitation for the simultaneous determination of bulaquine and its metabolite,primaquine, in monkey plasma

A sensitive and selective liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method (LC-MS-MS) for the simultaneous estimation of bulaquine and primaquine has been developed and validated in monkey plasma. The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile/ammonium acetate buffer (20 mM, pH 6) (50:50 v/v) at a flow-rate of 1 ml/min. The chromatographic separations were achieved on two spheri cyano columns (5 microm, 30 x 4.6 mm I.D.) connected in series. The quantitation was carried out using a Micromass LC-MS-MS with an electrospray source in the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. The analytes were quantified from the summed total ion value of their two most intense molecular transitions. This is another novel method leading to increased sensitivity and precision. A simple liquid-liquid extraction with 2 x 1.0 ml n-hexane/ethyl acetate/dimethyloctyl amine (90:10:0.05, v/v) was utilized. The method was validated in terms of recovery, linearity, accuracy and precision (within- and between-assay variation). The recoveries from spiked control samples were >or=90 and 50% for bulaquine and primaquine, respectively. Linearity in plasma was observed over a dynamic range of 1.56-400 and 3.91-1000 ng/ml for bulaquine and primaquine, respectively.     

Validation and implementation of a liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry assay to quantitate ON 01910.Na, a mitotic progression modulator, in human plasma

A reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatographic method with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was developed and validated for the quantitation of ON 01910.Na, a novel synthetic benzyl styryl sulfone, in human plasma. The assay involved a simple sample preparation with acetonitrile protein precipitation. ON 01910.Na and the internal standard temazepam were separated on a Waters X-Terra MS C(18) column with mobile phase of acetonitrile containing 0.1% formic acid /10mM ammonium acetate (55:45, v/v) using isocratic flow at 0.2 mL/min for 5 min. The analytes were monitored by tandem-mass spectrometry with electrospray positive ionization. Two calibration curves were generated over the range of 10-2000 ng/mL and 100-20000 ng/mL. The lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ) was 10 ng/mL for ON 01910.Na in human plasma. The accuracy and within- and between-day precisions were within the acceptance criteria for bioanalytical assays. ON 01910.Na was found stable in plasma at -70 degrees C for at least 1 year. The method was successfully applied to characterize the plasma concentration-time profiles of ON 01910.Na in the cancer patients in the Phase I study.     

Determination of talinolol in human plasma by high performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry: application to pharmacokinetic study

A rapid and sensitive method for determination and screening in human plasma of talinolol is described using propranolol as the internal standard. The analytes in plasma were extracted by liquid-liquid extraction using methyl t-butyl ether. After removed and dried the upper organic phase, the extracts were reconstituted with a fixed volume of buffer of ammonium acetate and acetonitrile (60:40, v/v). The extracts were analyzed by a HPLC coupled to electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/ESI). The HPLC separation of the analytes was performed on a Phenomenex C18 (250 mmx4.6 mm, 5 microm, USA) column, with a flow rate of 0.85 mL/min. The complete elution was obtained within 5.5 min. The calibration curve was linear in the 1.0-400.0 ng/mL range for talinolol, with a coefficient of determination of 0.9996. The average extraction recovery was above 83%. The methodology recovery was between 101% and 102%. The limit of detection (LOD) was 0.3 ng/mL for talinolol. The intraday and inter-day coefficients of variation were less than 6%. This HPLC-MS/ESI procedure was used to assess the pharmacokinetics of talinolol. A single oral 50 mg dose of talinolol tablet was administered to 12 healthy Chinese volunteers, the main pharmacokinetic data are as follows: Cmax was 147.8+/-63.8 ng/mL; tmax was 2.0+/-0.7 h; t1/2 was 12.0+/-2.6 h. The method is accurate, sensitive and simple for the pharmacokinetic study of talinolol.     

Determination of 8-methoxypsoralen in human plasma, and microdialysates using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

The validation of a LC/MS/MS method for the determination of 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP) in human plasma and microdialysates after topical application is described. Plasma samples were extracted by liquid-liquid extraction with diisopropylether using 4,5',8-trimethylpsoralen (TMP) as internal standard. Chromatographic separation of plasma sample extracts was carried out using a short narrow-bore Nucleosil C18 column (30 mm x 2.0 mm i.d.) with acetonitrile/(2 mM ammonium acetate buffer, 2 mM acetic acid) (80:20, v/v). For mass spectrometric analysis an API 3000 triple quadrupole mass spectrometer was employed. The mass transitions used were m/z 217.2-->174.0 for 8-MOP and m/z 229.1-->142.1 for TMP. Microdialysis samples diluted with an equal amount of acetonitrile did not require any extraction and were analyzed directly on a narrow-bore Nucleosil C18 column (70 mm x 2.0mm i.d.) with acetonitrile/(2 mM ammonium acetate buffer, 2 mM acetic acid) (50:50, v/v) with the mass transition m/z 217.2-->174.0. The assays were validated over the concentration ranges of 0.5-50 ng/ml for plasma samples and 0.25-50 ng/ml for microdialysates, respectively.     

Simultaneous determination of five antipsychotic drugs in rat plasma by high performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection

A significant percentage of psychiatric patients who are treated with antipsychotics are treated with more than one antipsychotic drug in the clinic. Thus, it is advantageous to use a rapid and reliable assay that is suitable for determination of multiple antipsychotic drugs in plasma in a single run. A simple and sensitive HPLC-UV method was developed and validated for simultaneous quantification of olanzapine, haloperidol, chlorpromazine, ziprasidone, risperidone and its active metabolite 9-hydroxyrisperidone in rat plasma using imipramine as an internal standard (I.S.). The analytes were extracted from rat plasma using a single step liquid-liquid acid solution back extraction technique with wash procedure, which provided the very clear baseline for blank plasma extraction. The compounds were separated on an Agilent Eclipse XDB C8 (150 mm x 4.6 mm i.d., 5 microm) column using a mobile phase of acetonitrile/30 mM ammonium acetate including 0.05% triethylamine (pH 5.86 adjusted with acetic acid) with gradient elution. All of the analytes were monitored using UV detection. The method was validated and the linearity, lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ), precision, accuracy, recoveries, selectivity and stability were determined. The LLOQ was 2.0 ng/ml and correlation coefficient (R(2)) values for the linear range of 2.0-500.0 ng/ml were 0.998 or greater for all the analytes. The precision and accuracy for intra-day and inter-day were better than 7.44%. The recovery was above 74.8% for all of the analytes. This validated method has been successfully used to quantify the plasma concentration of the analytes for pharmacological and toxicological studies following chronic treatment with antipsychotic drugs in the rat.     

Quantitative determination of cholesterol, sitosterol, and sitostanol in cultured Caco-2 cells by liquid chromatography-atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry

In this study, we describe a simple liquid extraction (methanol/choloroform, 1:1, v/v) method for endogenous free cholesterol and administered sterols extracted from cultured Caco-2 cells. To quantify sterol contents in Caco-2 cells, a new HPLC-APCI-MS method was developed. All the sterols were baseline separated using reversed-phase column (C8, 2.1 mm x 150 mm, 3.5 microm) and isocratic conditions (90%, v/v, methanol-water mixture containing 0.2 mM ammonium acetate). The full scan mass spectra of sterols were measured by an ion trap mass spectrometer equipped with an APCI ion source. The intense fragment ions resulting from the loss of water [M+H-H2O]+ (m/z 369, 395, 397 and 399 for cholesterol, stigmasterol, sitosterol, and sitostanol, respectively) were used for determinations. The absolute extraction recovery of sterols from the spiked cell samples were 109.7+/-26.2, 105.7+/-5.1, 109.8+/-5.0 and 99.0+/-7.0% for cholesterol, stigmasterol, sitosterol, and sitostanol, respectively. Furthermore, no significant matrix effect was observed for the sterols in the cell samples. The sample assay was based on the internal standard method using stigmasterol as an internal standard. The method was linear over the concentration ranges of 0.45-9.0 microM (cholesterol) and 0.225-7.2 microM (sitosterol and sitostanol). The within- and between-day precision was less than 7% and accuracy ranged from 93.51 to 101.77%. The lowest limit of quantitation (LLOQ) was 0.225 microM for sitosterol and sitostanol, and 0.45 microM for cholesterol. The accuracy range was 95-106% and precision was lower than 9% for all LLOQ values.     

Simultaneous determination of five main active bufadienolides of Chan Su in rat plasma by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

To study the pharmacokinetics of Chan Su, a sensitive and selective method was developed and validated for the determination of five main bufadienolides (cinobufagin, resibufogenin, bufalin, bufotalin and arenobufagin) in rat plasma. The analytes were extracted by liquid-liquid extraction with ethyl acetate after internal standard (IS, caudatin) spiked. The separation was performed by a ZORBAX SB-C18 column (3.5 microm, 2.1 mmx100 mm) and a C18 guard column (5 microm, 4.0 mmx2.0 mm) with an isocratic mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile-water-formic acid (50:50:0.05, v/v/v) at a flow rate of 0.3 mL/min. The Agilent G6410A triple quadrupole LC/MS system was operated under the multiple reaction monitoring mode (MRM) using the electrospray ionization technique in positive mode. The nominal retention times for cinobufagin, resibufogenin, bufalin, bufotalin, arenobufagin and caudatin were 3.07, 3.55, 2.30, 1.62, 1.22 and 3.43 min, respectively. All analytes showed good linearity in a wide concentration range (r>0.995) and their lower limits of quantification (LLOQ) were all 1.0 ng/mL. The method was linear for all analytes with correlation coefficients>0.995 for all analytes. The average extract recoveries of the five analytes from rat plasma were all over 85%, the precisions and accuracies determined were all within 15%. This method has been successfully applied to pharmacokinetic study of Chan Su in rats following oral administration.     

Double column-switching high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of TAK-603 and its metabolites in human serum

A double column-switching high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for the determination of concentrations for TAK-603 (T) and its metabolites, T-72258 (M-I) and T-72294 (M-III), in human serum was developed. The analytes were extracted with ethyl acetate from human serum samples treated with triethylamine and injected into the HPLC system. Separation of the analytes was performed on the HPLC system with double column-switching technique. The mobile phases A and B for the first column and the mobile phase C for the second column used were a mixture of methanol–10 mM aqueous ammonium acetate solution (1:1, v/v), methanol and a mixture of methanol–10 mM aqueous ammonium acetate solution (11:9, v/v), respectively. The eluate was monitored with a UV detector at a wavelength of 253 nm. The work-up procedure was reproducible and more than 90% of the analytes could be recovered from human serum. The lower limits of quantitation were all 1 ng/ml for the analytes when 0.5 ml of human serum was used. Standard curves were linear with a correlation coefficient (R) of more than 0.999 in the range of 1–500 ng/ml for T, M-I and M-III in human serum. The intra- and inter-day precision of the method for the various analytes were below 4.8%. The accuracy was good with the deviations between spiked and calculated concentrations of the analytes being within 11.0%. The method was successfully applied to analyze serum samples after an oral administration of T to healthy male volunteers.     

Quantification of tipranavir in human plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detection

A simple method for the quantification of tipranavir, a new non-peptidic protease-inhibitor, was developed. An internal standard, prazepam, was added to 100 microl of plasma before a liquid-liquid extraction by 3 ml of tert-butyl methyl ether. The extracts were evaporated to dryness and reconstituted with 100 microl of mobile phase before being injected in the chromatographic system. The separation was made on a C8 column using sodium acetate buffer (pH 5):methanol:acetonitrile (35:30:35, v/v/v) as mobile phase. The detection was performed at a wavelength of 260 nm. The method was linear and has been validated over a concentration range of 2-80 mg/l. The mean precision and accuracy of the method were respectively, 10.5 and -9.1%. The mean recovery was 70.8%.     

Determination of duloxetine in human plasma by liquid chromatography with atmospheric pressure ionization-tandem mass spectrometry and its application to pharmacokinetic study

A rapid, sensitive and accurate liquid chromatographic-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) method is described for the determination of duloxetine in human plasma. Duloxetine was extracted from plasma using methanol and separated on a C18 column. The mobile phase consisting of a mixture of acetonitrile and 5mM ammonium acetate (45:55, v/v, pH 3.5) was delivered at a flow rate of 0.3 ml/min. Atmospheric pressure ionization (API) source was operated in positive ion mode. Multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode using the transitions of m/z 298.1-->m/z 44.0 and m/z 376.2-->m/z 123.2 were used to quantify duloxetine and internal standard (I.S.), respectively. The linearity was obtained over the concentration range of 0.1-50.0 ng/ml and the lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ) was 0.1 ng/ml. This method was successfully applied to pharmacokinetic study of a duloxetine formulation product after oral administration to healthy human subjects.     

Sensitive and rapid liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometric assay for the quantification of chloroquine in dog plasma

A simple, sensitive and rapid liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) method was developed and validated for quantification of chloroquine, an antimalarial drug, in plasma using its structural analogue, piperazine bis chloroquinoline as internal standard (IS). The method is based on simple protein precipitation with methanol followed by a rapid isocratic elution with 10 mM ammonium acetate buffer/methanol (25/75, v/v, pH 4.6) on Chromolith SpeedROD RP-18e reversed phase chromatographic column and subsequent analysis by mass spectrometry in the multiple reaction monitoring mode (MRM). The precursor to product ion transitions of m/z 320.3-->247.2 and m/z 409.1-->205.2 were used to measure the analyte and the IS, respectively. The assay exhibited a linear dynamic range of 2.0-489.1 ng/mL for chloroquine in dog plasma. The limit of detection (LOD) and lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) were 0.4 and 2.0 ng/mL, respectively in 0.05 mL plasma. Acceptable precision and accuracy were obtained for concentrations over the standard curve range of 2.0-489.1 ng/mL. A run time of 2.0 min for a sample made it possible to achieve a throughput of more than 400 plasma samples analyzed per day. The validated method was successfully used to analyze samples of dog plasma during non-clinical study of chloroquine.