Quantification of tripdiolide in human whole blood by liquid chromatography coupled with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization tandem mass spectrometry

A liquid chromatographic-tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) assay was developed and validated to determine tripdiolide in human whole blood using dexamethasone acetate as an internal standard (I.S.). Liquid-liquid extraction with ethyl acetate was used to isolate them from the biological matrix. Detection was performed on a mass spectrometer coupled with a negative atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) in the multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. The calibration curve was linear (r² = 0.9973) in the concentration range of 0.5-100.0 ng/mL in human whole blood with a lower limit of quantification of 0.5 ng/mL. Intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviations (R.S.D.s) were less than 7.0 and 10.1%, respectively. Extraction recoveries of tripdiolide ranged from 80.5 to 90.1%. This assay can be used to determine trace tripdiolide in human whole blood.