Rapid Liquid Chromatographic – Tandem Mass Spectrometric Method for the Quantification of Pentoxifylline in Human Plasma

A simple, rapid, sensitive and selective liquid chromatography / tandem mass spectrometry method was developed and validated for the quantification of pentoxifylline, a haemorheological agent. The analyte and internal standard, tamsulosin were extracted by liquid-liquid extraction with ethyl acetate and were separated using an isocratic mobile phase on a reverse phase C₁₈ column. The analytes were analyzed by mass spectrometry in the multiple reaction monitoring mode using the respective M+H]⁺ ions, m/z 279/138 for pentoxifylline and m/z 409/228 for the IS. The assay exhibited a linear dynamic range of 2–1000 ng mL⁻¹ for pentoxifylline in human plasma. The lower limit of quantification was 2 ng mL⁻¹ with a relative standard deviation of less than 10%. Acceptable precision and accuracy were obtained for concentrations over the standard curve range. A run time of 1.5 min for each sample made it possible to analyze more than 400 human plasma samples per day. The validated method has been successfully used to analyze human plasma samples for application in pharmacokinetic, bioavailability or bioequivalence studies. Revised: 4 and 20 October 2005