Single quadrupole mass spectrometry for pre-clinical pharmacokinetic analysis: quantitation of carvedilol in dog plasma

The pharmaceutical industry standard for bioanalysis is LC/MS/MS. There are, however, many instances where a single quadrupole detector could successfully be used to provide adequate sensitivity and selectivity for quantitation of drug substances in biological matrices. This paper presents one example of how a single quadrupole detector can be employed in a sensitive and selective analytical method for quantitation of carvedilol. A Synergi Hydro-RP (50 mm x 2 mm i.d.; 4 microm) column was used with acetonitile:water:formic acid mobile phase (32:68:0.01, v/v) at a flow rate of 200 microL/min into a single quadrupole mass spectrometer with an electrospray interface in the positive SIM mode. Using a 300 microL plasma aliquot and a liquid-liquid extraction procedure the limit of quantitation for the assay was 1 ng/mL. The assay utility was demonstrated in the analysis of carvedilol pharmacokinetic profiles in beagle dogs following oral carvedilol administration.