Development and validation of a HPLC-ESI-MS/MS method for the determination of 5-aminosalicylic acid and its major metabolite N-acetyl-5-aminosalicylic acid in human plasma

A new HPLC method for the determination of 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) and N-acetyl-5-aminosalicylic acid (N-Ac-5-ASA) in human plasma was developed and validated. Plasma samples were analyzed after protein precipitation with methanol and the two analytes were separated using a C18 column with a mobile phase composed of 17.5mmol/L acetic acid (pH 3.3):acetonitrile=85:15 (v/v) at 0.2mL/min flow rate. 4-ASA and N-Ac-4-ASA were used as internal standards. Selective detection was performed by tandem mass spectrometry with electrospray source, operating in negative ionization mode and in multiple reaction monitoring acquisition (m/z 152-->108 for 5-ASA; m/z 194-->150 and 194-->107 for N-Ac-5-ASA). The limit of quantification (LOQ) was 50ng/mL for both analytes (0.2ng injected) and matrix-matched standard curves showed linearity up to 4000ng/mL. In the entire analytical range the within- and between-batch precision (R.S.D.%) values were respectively 90% for 5-ASA and >95% for N-Ac-5-ASA (R.S.D.%