Simultaneous Determination of Tamsulosin and Dutasteride in Human Plasma by LC–MS–MS

A sensitive and selective liquid chromatographic tandem mass spectrometric (LC–MS–MS) method was developed for simultaneous identification and quantification of tamsulosin and dutasteride in human plasma, which was well applied to clinical study. The method was based on liquid–liquid extraction, followed by an LC procedure with a Gemini C-18, 50 mm × 2.0 mm (3 μm) column and using methanol:ammonium formate (97:3, v/v) as the mobile phase. Protonated ions formed by a turbo ionspray in positive mode were used to detect analytes and internal standard. MS–MS detection was by monitoring the fragmentation of 409.1 → 228.1 (m/z) for tamsulosin, 529.3 → 461.3 (m/z) for dutasteride and 373.2 → 305.3 (m/z) for finasteride (IS) on a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. The lower limit of quantification for both tamsulosin and dutasteride was 1 ng mL^?1. The proposed method enables the unambiguous identification and quantification of tamsulosin and dutasteride for clinical drug monitoring.     

Simultaneous Determination of Atenolol and Chlorthalidone by LC–MS–MS in Human Plasma

A simple, sensitive, selective and rapid liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method was developed and validated for the simultaneous separation and quantitation of atenolol and chlorthalidone in human plasma using metoprolol and hydrochlorothiazide as internal standard. Following solid phase extraction, the analytes were separated by an isocratic mobile phase on a reversed-phase C₁₈ column and analyzed by MS in the multiple reaction-monitoring mode (atenolol in positive and chlorthalidone in the negative ion mode). The limit of quantitation for this method was 10 and 15 ng mL^?1 and the linear dynamic range was generally 10–2,050 ng mL^?1 and 15–3,035 ng mL^?1 for atenolol and chlorthalidone, respectively.     

Simultaneous Determination of Paracetamol and Caffeine in Human Plasma by LC–ESI–MS

A rapid, selective and convenient liquid chromatography–mass spectrometric method for the simultaneous determination of paracetamol and caffeine in human plasma was developed and validated. Analytes and theophylline [internal standard (I.S.)] were extracted from plasma samples with diethyl ether-dichloromethane (3:2, v/v) and separated on a C₁₈ column (150 × 4.6 mm ID, 5 μm particle size, 100 Å pore size). The mobile phase consisted of 0.2% formic acid–methanol (60:40, v/v). The assay was linear in the concentration range between 0.05 and 25 μg mL^?1 for paracetamol and 10–5,000 ng mL^?1 for caffeine, with the lower limit of quantification of 0.05 μg mL^?1 and 10 ng mL^?1, respectively. The intra- and inter-day precision for both drugs was less than 8.1%, and the accuracy was within ±6.5%. The single chromatographic analysis of plasma samples was achieved within 4.5 min. This validated method was successfully applied to study the pharmacokinetics of paracetamol and caffeine in human plasma.     

LC–MS–MS Separation and Simultaneous Determination of Tolterodine and its Active Metabolite, 5-Hydroxymethyl Tolterodine in Human Plasma

A selective, sensitive and high throughput LC–MS–MS method has been developed and validated for the chromatographic separation and quantitation of tolterodine (TOL) and its metabolite 5-hydroxymethyl TOL in human plasma. Sample clean-up concerned liquid–liquid extraction of the drug, metabolite and their respective labelled internal standards from 300 μL human plasma. Both the analytes were chromatographically separated on a Symmetry C18 (100 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm particle size) analytical column using 10 mM ammonium formate (pH 5.0 ± 0.1, adjusted with formic acid) and acetonitrile (35:65, v/v) as the mobile phase with a resolution factor of 2.72. The method was validated over the concentration range of 0.025–10.0 ng mL^?1 for both analytes. The process efficiency found for TOL and its metabolite was 98.3 and 99.5%, respectively. The method was successfully applied to a pivotal bioequivalence study in 41 healthy human subjects after oral administration of a 2 mg tablet formulation under fasting conditions.     

LC–MS Simultaneous Determination of Itopride Hydrochloride and Domperidone in Human Plasma

A rapid, simple, sensitive and specific liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method was developed and validated for simultaneous quantification of itopride hydrochloride and domperidone in human plasma. Both drugs were extracted by liquid–liquid extraction with ethyl acetate and saturated borax solution. The chromatographic separation was performed on a reversed-phase C18 column with a mobile phase of water–methanol (2:98, v/v) containing 0.5% formic acid. The protonated analyte was quantitated in positive ionization by multiple reaction monitoring with a mass spectrometer. The assay exhibited linearity over the concentration range of 3.33–500 ng mL⁻¹ for itopride hydrochloride and 3.33–100 ng mL⁻¹ for domperidone in human plasma. The precursor to product ion transitions of m/z 359.1–72.3 and 426.0–147.2 were used to measure itopride hydrochloride and domperidone respectively. The method was found suitable for the analysis of plasma samples collected during phase 1 pharmacokinetics study of itopride HCl 50 mg and domperidone 20 mg in 12 healthy volunteers after single oral doses of the combination drug.

     

LC–MS Simultaneous Determination of Itopride Hydrochloride and Domperidone in Human Plasma

A rapid, simple, sensitive and specific liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method was developed and validated for simultaneous quantification of itopride hydrochloride and domperidone in human plasma. Both drugs were extracted by liquid–liquid extraction with ethyl acetate and saturated borax solution. The chromatographic separation was performed on a reversed-phase C18 column with a mobile phase of water–methanol (2:98, v/v) containing 0.5% formic acid. The protonated analyte was quantitated in positive ionization by multiple reaction monitoring with a mass spectrometer. The assay exhibited linearity over the concentration range of 3.33–500 ng mL^?1 for itopride hydrochloride and 3.33–100 ng mL^?1 for domperidone in human plasma. The precursor to product ion transitions of m/z 359.1–72.3 and 426.0–147.2 were used to measure itopride hydrochloride and domperidone respectively. The method was found suitable for the analysis of plasma samples collected during phase 1 pharmacokinetics study of itopride HCl 50 mg and domperidone 20 mg in 12 healthy volunteers after single oral doses of the combination drug.     

Determination of Pitavastatin in Human Plasma by LC–MS–MS

A simple and rapid LC–MS–MS assay was developed and validated for the quantitative determination of pitavastatin in human plasma. Sample pretreatment involved simple protein precipitation by addition of acetonitrile. Separation was on an Agilent 1.8 μm Zorbax SB-C18 column (150 mm × 4.6 mm) at 25 °C using isocratic elution with methanol–0.1% formic acid in water (85:15, v/v) at a flow rate of 0.4 mL min^?1. Detection was performed using electrospray ionization in positive ion multiple reaction monitoring mode by monitoring the ion transitions m/z 422.0 → 290.1 for pitavastatin, and m/z 330.1 → 192.1 for paroxetine (IS). LC–MS–MS was found to improve the quantitation of pitavastatin in plasma and was successfully applied in pharmacokinetic studies.     

Simultaneous Determination of Ramipril and Its Active Metabolite Ramiprilat in Human Plasma by LC–MS–MS

A selective, rapid and sensitive liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method has been developed for the simultaneous determination of ramipril and ramiprilat in human plasma using enalapril as the internal standard via one-step extraction with ethyl acetate under acidic condition. The analysis was carried out on a Diamonsil C₁₈ column (150 mm × 4.6 mm i.d., 5 μm) with a mobile phase consisting of 1% formic acid-acetonitrile (25:75, v/v) at a constant flow rate of 0.5 mL min^?1. The detection was performed on a triple-quadruple tandem mass spectrometer by selective reaction monitoring mode via electrospray ionization. Linear calibration curves of ramipril and ramiprilat were obtained in the concentration range of 0.107–107.0 and 0.262–105.0 ng mL^?1, respectively. The intra- and inter-day precision (RSD) values were below 8.2 and 4.8% for ramipril, 10.4 and 12.3% for ramiprilat, and accuracy (RE) were within ±5.5 and ±3.2%, respectively at all QC levels. The method was utilized to support clinical pharmacokinetic studies in healthy volunteers following oral administration of ramipril tablets.     

Determination of Fenofibric Acid in Human Plasma by LC–MS/MS and LC–UV

A sensitive, high-throughput and economic liquid chromatographic method for determination of fenofibric acid in human plasma was developed and validated by ultraviolet detection and tandem mass spectrometry, then applied in pharmacokinetic study to investigate Lipanthyl™ 200 mg MC bioavailability under food and fasting conditions. Fenofibric acid with 2-chloro fenofibric acid-d6 (internal standard) was extracted from 100 µL of human plasma by acetonitrile in a single extraction step. 25 and 2 µL from supernatant were injected onto ACE column, 50 mm, 5 micron with 4.6 mm inner diameter for LC–UV and 2.1 mm for LC–MS/MS, and both systems were eluted isocratically by water:methanol:formic acid (35:65:0.1, v/v/v), with a constant flow rate of 1 mL min⁻¹. The established calibration curve was linear between 0.05–20 µg mL⁻¹, and the within- and between-day precisions were all below 13 % in both LC–MS/MS and LC–UV systems during validation, and accuracies ranged between 91 and 112 %. Twenty-eight healthy adult subjects participated in this clinical study, and the pharmacokinetic parameters including coefficient of variation were calculated and discussed. A dramatic decrease in C _max and AUC0-72 (3.63- and 1.85-fold, respectively) were observed for Lipanthyl™ MC under fasting conditions with more variable inter subject measurements comparing to the fed state.

     

LC–MS–MS Determination of Nikethamide in Human Plasma

A sensitive LC–MS–MS method with electrospray ionization has been developed for determination of nikethamide in human plasma. After addition of atropine as internal standard, liquid–liquid extraction was used to produce a protein-free extract. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a 150 mm × 2.1 mm, 5 μm particle, Agilent Zorbax SB-C₁₈ column, with 45:55 (v/v) methanol–water containing 0.1% formic acid as mobile phase. LC–MS–MS was performed in multiple reaction monitoring mode using target fragment ions m/z 178.8 → 107.8 for nikethamide and m/z 289.9 → 123.8 for the internal standard. Calibration plots were linear over the range of 20.0–2,000 ng mL^?1. The lower limit of quantification was 20.0 ng mL^?1. Intra-day and inter-day precisions were better than 4.2 and 6.1%, respectively. Mean recovery of nikethamide from human plasma was in the range 65.3–71.1%.     

Simultaneous LC–MS–MS Analysis of Valsartan and Hydrochlorothiazide in Human Plasma

A rapid and specific liquid chromatographic–tandem mass spectrometric method is described for simultaneous analysis of valsartan (VAL) and hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) in human plasma. VAL and HCTZ were chromatographed on a C₈ column with 75:15:10 (v/v) acetonitrile–methanol–0.001% aqueous ammonia as mobile phase. VAL and HCTZ were eluted at 0.69 min and 1.22 min, respectively, and, after electrospray ionization (ESI), detected in selected-reaction-monitoring mode. The precursor to product-ion transitions m/z 434.32 → 179.22 and m/z 295.85 → 204.86 were used to quantify VAL and HCTZ, respectively. Recovery by solid-phase extraction was >90% for both analytes and the internal standard. The method was suitable for application to a pharmacokinetic study after oral administration of tablet containing 160 mg VAL and 25 mg HCTZ to 18 healthy volunteers.     

LC–ESI–MS Determination of Flupentixol in Human Plasma

Flupentixol and an internal standard, loperamide were extracted from human plasma by liquid–liquid extraction and analyzed on a Thermo Hypersil HyPURITY C18 column, with 10 mM ammonium acetate–acetonitrile–methanol (26:62:12, v/v/v) as mobile phase, coupled with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI–MS). The protonated analyte was quantified by selected-ion monitoring (SIM) with a quadrupole mass spectrometer in a positive-ion mode. The calibration curve was linear (r = 0.9990) over the concentration range: 0.039–2.5 ng mL^?1. Intra-day and inter-day precision (RSD%) were less than 13.05%. The established method was successfully applied for the determination of pharmacokinetics of flupentixol in human plasma.     

LC–ESI–MS Determination of Lovastatin in Human Plasma

A convenient, selective and sensitive liquid chromatographic-electrospary ionization mass spectrometry (LC–ESI–MS) method was developed and validated to determine lovastatin in human plasma. The analyte was extracted from human plasma samples by typical liquid–liquid extraction, separated on a C₁₈ column by using the mobile phase consisting of water–methanol (13:87, v/v). Simvastatin was used as the internal standard (IS). The method was linear within the range of 0.1–20 ng mL⁻¹. The lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) was 0.1 ng mL⁻¹. The intra- and inter-run precision, calculated from quality control (QC) samples was less than 10.2%. The accuracy as determined from QC samples was in the range of 99.3–102.9% for the analyte. The mean recoveries for lovastatin and IS were 84.8 and 88.0%, respectively. The method was successfully applied for evaluation of the pharmacokinetic of lovastatin in healthy volunteers.     

Simultaneous Determination of Levodopa, Benserazide and 3-O-Methyldopa in Human Serum by LC–MS–MS

For the first time a sensitive, specific and rapid LC–MS–MS assay is presented for the simultaneous determination of levodopa (L-DP), 3-O-methyldopa (3-OMD) and benserazide (BSZ) in human serum. The three compounds were extracted from human serum by protein precipitation followed by dilution of the supernatant with aqueous formic acid. In serum, linearity was observed between 50 and 1,000 ng mL^?1 of L-DP, 3-OMD and BSZ, respectively. Intra-day and inter-day RSD values were below 10.56 and 6.22% at concentrations of 120, 360 and 720 ng mL^?1. The presented method showed excellent specificity and sensitivity compared with other methods reported. It was applied to a pharmacokinetic study and demonstrated its applicability to pre-clinical and clinical pharmacological research.     

Determination of Drospirenone in Human Plasma by LC–Tandem-MS

A bioanalytical method has been developed and validated for determination of drospirenone in human plasma. The analytical method consists in the extraction of plasma sample with dichloromethane, followed by determination of drospirenone by LC–MS–MS using levonorgestrel as internal standard. Separation was achieved on a Peerless cyano column with an isocratic mobile phase consisting of methanol and ammonium formate buffer. Protonated ions formed by a Turboionspray in the positive mode were used to detect analyte and IS. The MS–MS detection was by monitoring the fragmentation for drospirenone and for levonorgestrel on a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. The assay was calibrated over the range 5–100 ng mL^?1 with a correlation coefficient of 0.9998. Validation data showed intra-batch (n = 6) CV% ≤ 5.58 and RE (%) between ?3.34 and +6.27 and inter-batch (n = 18) CV% < 6.08 and RE (%) between ?1.84 and +6.73. Mean extraction recovery were 83.31–92.58% for three QC samples and 89.32% for IS. Plasma samples were stable for three freeze-thaw cycles, or 24 h ambient storage, or 1 and 3 months storage at ?20 °C. Processed samples (ready for injection) were stable up to 72 h at autosampler (4 °C). This method has been used for analyzing plasma samples from a bioequivalence study with 12 volunteers.     

Quantification of Quetiapine in Human Plasma by LC–MS–MS

A rapid liquid chromatographic method with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometric detection has been developed and validated for quantification of quetiapine in heparinized human plasma. Plasma samples, without a drying and reconstitution step, were extracted by solid-phase extraction and eluted with acetonitrile. The analyte and zolpidem tartrate (internal standard, IS) were chromatographed on a C₁₈ column; the mobile phase was 85:15 (v/v) acetonitrile–5 mM ammonium formate, pH adjusted to 4.5 with formic acid, at a flow rate of 0.5 mL min^?1. The retention times of quetiapine and the IS were 1.25 and 1.05 min, respectively, and the run time was 1.8 min per sample. Selected reaction monitoring of MH⁺ at m/z 384.12 and 308.11 resulted in stable fragment ions with m/z 253.02 and 235.09 for quetiapine and the IS, respectively. Response was a linear function of concentration in the range 1.0–240.0 ng mL^?1, with r ≥ 0.9994. Recovery of quetiapine and the IS ranged from 74.82 to 85.57%. The assay has excellent characteristics and has been successfully used for analysis of quetiapine in healthy human subjects in a bioequivalence study.     

Quantification of Quetiapine in Human Plasma by LC–MS–MS

A rapid liquid chromatographic method with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometric detection has been developed and validated for quantification of quetiapine in heparinized human plasma. Plasma samples, without a drying and reconstitution step, were extracted by solid-phase extraction and eluted with acetonitrile. The analyte and zolpidem tartrate (internal standard, IS) were chromatographed on a C₁₈ column; the mobile phase was 85:15 (v/v) acetonitrile–5 mM ammonium formate, pH adjusted to 4.5 with formic acid, at a flow rate of 0.5 mL min⁻¹. The retention times of quetiapine and the IS were 1.25 and 1.05 min, respectively, and the run time was 1.8 min per sample. Selected reaction monitoring of MH⁺ at m/z 384.12 and 308.11 resulted in stable fragment ions with m/z 253.02 and 235.09 for quetiapine and the IS, respectively. Response was a linear function of concentration in the range 1.0–240.0 ng mL⁻¹, with r ≥ 0.9994. Recovery of quetiapine and the IS ranged from 74.82 to 85.57%. The assay has excellent characteristics and has been successfully used for analysis of quetiapine in healthy human subjects in a bioequivalence study.

     

Simultaneous Determination of Ebastine and Its Active Metabolite (Carebastine) in Human Plasma Using LC–MS–MS

A sensitive and rapid LC–MS–MS method was developed for the simultaneous determination of ebastine and carebastine in human plasma. Solid-phase extraction was used to isolate the compounds from the biological matrix followed by separation on a Symmetry C18 column under isocratic conditions. The mobile phase was 10 mM ammonium formate in water/acetonitrile (40:60, v/v). Detection was carried out using a triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer in positive electrospray ionization and multiple reaction monitoring mode. The method was fully validated over the concentration range of 0.1–10 ng mL^?1 for ebastine and 0.2–200 ng mL^?1 for carebastine in human plasma, respectively. The lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) was 0.1 ng mL^?1 for ebastine and 0.2 ng mL^?1 for carebastine. For ebastine and carebastine inter- and intra-day precision (CV%) and accuracy values were all within ±15% and 85–115%, respectively. The extraction recovery was on average 60.0% for ebastine and 60.3% for carebastine.     

LC–MS–MS Assay for Simultaneous Quantification of Fexofenadine and Pseudoephedrine in Human Plasma

A rapid, sensitive, and simple HPLC–MS–MS method, with electro-spray ionization and cetirizine as internal standard (IS), has been developed and validated for simultaneous quantification of fexofenadine and pseudoephedrine in human plasma. The analytes were isolated from plasma by solid-phase extraction (SPE) on Oasis HLB cartridges. The compounds were chromatographed on an RP 18 column with a mixture of ammonium acetate (10 mm, pH 6.4) and methanol as mobile phase. Quantification of the analytes was based on multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) of precursor-to-product ion pairs m/z 502 → 466 for fexofenadine, m/z 166 → 148 for pseudoephedrine, and m/z 389 → 201 for cetirizine. The linear calibration range for both analytes was 2–1,700 ng mL⁻¹ (r = 0.995), based on analysis of 0.1 mL plasma. Extraction recovery was 91.5 and 80.88% for fexofenadine and pseudoephedrine, respectively. The method was suitable for analysis of human plasma samples obtained 72 h after administration of a drug containing both fexofenadine and pseudoephedrine.