Determination of Voriconazole in Human Plasma by Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry: Application in Therapeutic Drug Monitoring

A sensitive, accurate and robust Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry method has been developed and validated to measure voriconazole trough levels in human plasma. The plasma samples were mixed with fluconazole as an Internal Standard and directed to protein precipitation and drug extraction. An aliquot of 1 μl was injected into the chromatographic system and separated by the Acquity BEH C18 column at a flow rate of 0.30 ml/min in a gradient mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile, Ultrapure water (UPW), methanol and formic acid. Voriconazole was detected by a Triple Quadrupole Detector (TQD) operating on Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM) and a positive ion mode Electrospray ionization (ESI) Q1 mass: 350.1 m/z, Q3 mass: 281.1 m/z. Method linearity of the calibration curve (0.10 - 8.00 μg/ml) indicated a correlation coefficient r ≥ 0.99. The intra and inter-assay accuracy was within 85% - 115% and the intra and inter-assay precision was ≤5.76%. Voriconazole recovery percentage was between 97.69 - 119.62%. The method was successively applied in routine voriconazole TDM.

Rapid analysis of fifteen sulfonamide residues in pork and fish samples by automated on-line solid phase extraction coupled to liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

The aim of this work was to develop an automated on-line solid phase extraction(SPE)with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the detection of fifteen sulfonamides in pork and fish samples.Samples were extracted with 0.2%formic acid acetonitrile solution,purified by on-line SPE device with HLB column,then separated by XBridge C18 column,using 0.1%formic acid solution and acetonitrile as the mobile phase.Mass spectrometric data was acquired under multiple reaction monitoring(MRM)mode using positive ionization electrospray.Internal standard method was used in the quantification,good linear relationship was got in range of 0.1–100 ng/mL and correlation coefficient was higher than 0.9990.The limits of detection were in the range of 0.125–2.00g/kg and the limits of quantitation were in the range of 0.250–5.00g/kg.Recoveries of the method were in range of 78.3%–99.3%,relative standard deviation were lower than 10%.The method was simple,sensitivity,and could be used for routine supervision and analysis of fifteen sulfonamides in pork and fish.

Determination of urine catecholamines and metanephrines by reversed-phase liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

The measurement of urine catecholamine and metanephrine concentrations is important for biochemical screening and diagnosis of pheochromocytoma.The goal of this work was to develop a simple liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry(LC-MS/MS)method for determining catecholamines and metanephrines in urine to replace an existing liquid chromatographic method using electrochemical detection.Urine samples were prepared using Oasis weak-cation-exchange cartridges.The eluate was analyzed on an Agilent ZORBAX Eclipse Plus Phenyl-Hexyl column in 3 min.Adrenaline,noradrenaline,dopamine,metanephrine,normetanephrine,and their deuterated internal standards were monitored in positive electrospray ionization mode by multiple reaction monitoring(MRM).No evidence of ion suppression was observed.The assay was linear up to 5μmol/L for adrenaline,5μmol/L for noradrenaline,6.1μmol/L for dopamine,5.6μmol/L for metanephrine,and 34.6μmol/L for normetanephrine,with lower limits of quantification of 5,5,12,6 and 7nmol/L,respectively.The intra-day and inter-day precisions for all analytes ranged from 0.59%to 4.64%and1.98%to 4.80%,respectively.External quality assurance samples were assayed and showed excellent agreement with the target values.This simple method provides an improved assay for determining urine catecholamines and metanephrines.

A liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry method for quantitating total and unbound ceritinib in patient plasma and brain tumor

A rapid, sensitive, and robust reversed-phase liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry method was developed and validated for the determination of total and unbound ceritinib, a secondgeneration ALK inhibitor, in patient plasma and brain tumor tissue samples. Sample preparation involved simple protein precipitation with acetonitrile. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a Waters ACQUITY UPLC BEH C_(18) column using a 4-min gradient elution consisting of mobile phase A(0.1% formic acid in water) and mobile phase B(0.1% formic acid in acetonitrile), at a flow rate of 0.4 m L/min. Ceritinib and the internal standard([^(13)C_6]ceritinib) were monitored using multiple reaction monitoring mode under positive electrospray ionization. The lower limit of quantitation(LLOQ) was 1 n M of ceritinib in plasma. The calibration curve was linear over ceritinib concentration range of 1–2000 n M in plasma. The intra-and interday precision and accuracy were within the generally accepted criteria for bioanalytical method( o15%).The method was successfully applied to assess ceritinib brain tumor penetration, as assessed by the unbound drug brain concentration to unbound drug plasma concentration ratio, in patients with brain tumors.

Stereoselective separation and determination of quizalofopethyl in tobacco by ultra-performance convergence chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a novel and sensitive method for simultaneous enantiomeric analysis of quizalofop-ethyl in tobacco using ultra-performance converge nee chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry(UPC-MS/MS).Sample preparation prior to UPC^2-MS/MS analysis followed a QuEChERS(quick,easy,cheap,effective,rugged and safe)method.The UPC^2-MS/MS method used an Acquity UPC2 Trefoil CEL2 column with a mobile phase of CO2 and methanol.The injection volume was 2 μL and run-time was 6 min with the mobile phase running at 2.0 mL/min flow rate.Column temperature,auto back pressure regulator pressure(ABPR),and modifier solvent were optimized for separation efficiency.Under the optimal conditio ns,the recoveries for all the ena ntiomers were 81.3%-94.8% with relative standard deviations(RSD)less than 5.0% at 0.1,1.0 and 2.0 mg/kg levels,respectively.Good coefficients of determination(R^2≥0.993 7)were achieved for all the studied enantiomers in the tobacco over the concentration range of 10-250 ng/mL.The limits of detection(LODs)varied from 0.02 mg/kg to 0.04 mg/kg,and the limits of quantification(LOQs)were ≤ 0.13 mg/kg.The results confirm that the proposed method is green,convenient and reliable for the enantioselective determination of the enantiomers of quizalofop-ethyl in tobacco.

Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method for the estimation of lamotrigine in human plasma:Application to a pharmacokinetic study

A reliable,selective and sensitive liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method was developed and validated for the quantification of lamotrigine in human plasma using lamotrigine13C3,d3 as an internal standard.Analyte and internal standard were extracted from human plasma by solid-phase extraction and detected in positive ion mode by tandem mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization（ESI） interface.Chromatographic separation was performed on a Chromolith s SpeedROD;RP-18e column（50-4.6 mm i.d.） using acetonitrile：570.1 mM ammonium formate solution（90：10,v/v） as the mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.500 mL/min.The calibration curves were linear over the range of 5.02-1226.47 ng/mL with the lower limit of quantitation validated at 5.02 ng/mL.The analytes were found stable in human plasma through three freeze（-20℃）-thaw（ice-cold water bath） cycles and under storage on bench-top in ice-cold water bath for at least 6.8 h,and also in the mobile phase at 10℃ for at least 57h.The method has shown good reproducibility,as the intra-and inter-day precisions were within 3.0%,while the accuracies were within 76.0% of nominal values.The validated LC-MS/MS method was applied for the evaluation of pharmacokinetic and bioequivalence parameters of lamotrigine after an oral administration of 50mg lamotrigine tablet to thirty-two healthy adult male volunteers.

Determination of Sex Hormones in Antler Velvet by High Performance Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Eighteen sex hormones in antler velvet were determined by high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.The solid phase extraction was applied to eliminating the matrix effect.The experimental conditions were examined and optimized.Under the optimal conditions,the proposed method provides the good linearities and determination limits（0.2―1.0 μg/kg） of the analytes investigated.The recoveries ranging from 72.3% to 149.5% were obtained for the target analytes at two concentration levels.This method was applied to the determination of eighteen sex hormones in different kinds of antler velvet samples and the obtained results are satisfactory.The results indicate that the proposed method is suitable for the determination of sex hormones in antler velvet samples.

Uncertainty Evaluation of Determination of Microcystin MC-LR in Environmental Samples by Solid Phase Extraction-Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry

To assess uncertainty of determination of MC-LR in environmental samples by solid phase extraction- ultra performance liquid chromatography- tandem mass spectrometry,the sources of the uncertainty were evaluated firstly,and the expanded uncertainty was calculated finally.The results show that when MC-LR concentration in the water samples was 0.50 μg/L,the expanded uncertainty was 0.00628 μg/L(k=2).

Fast and Sensitive Chiral Analysis of Amphetamines and Cathinones in Equine Urine and Plasma Using Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry

A simple, rapid, sensitive and reproducible method for enantiomer analysis of methamphetamine, amphetamine, cathinone and methcathinone was developed and validated. The compounds were extracted from equine plasma and urine using a fast liquid-liquid extraction procedure. Only one milliliter plasma and one hundred microliter urine sample is needed for analysis. The extraction procedure had good recovery (>70%) and the matrix effect was negligible. Enantiomer differentiation and confirmation were achieved using liquid chromatography with chiral stationary phase and mass spectrometry detection. The method demonstrated excellent reproducibility with intra-day and inter-day precision of lower than 5%. The lower limits of detection for all of the compounds studied here were at low pg/mL level for both plasma and urine. This is the first report of the analysis of four chiral compounds in equine plasma and urine. Routine application was demonstrated for (S)- and (R)-enantiomer differentiation.

Rapid Quantitative Determination of Isoprene Monomer in Living Taraxacum kok-saghyz by Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Taraxacum kok-saghyz(TKS)is rich in natural rubber(NR),a natural organic macromolecular compound composed of cis-1,4-polyisoprene,and may become the second NR-bearing plant for biochemical engineering development.In this paper,a rapid and quantitative ultra-high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry(UHPLCMS/MS)method was established for determination of macromolecular biosynthesis substrate(dimethylallyl pyrophosphate,DMAPP)and initiator(farnesyl pyrophosphate,FPP)contained in TKS.A Kromasil C18 chromatographic column was used for separation,and the multi-reaction monitoring mode(MRM)of triple quadrupole mass spectrometry was used for detection.Quantification was performed by external calibration method.The results showed that the limit of detection(LOD)and the limit of quantitation(LOQ)of DMAPP were 2.42μg/L and 7.26μg/L,respectively,and the LOQ and the LOD of FPP were 1.02μg/L and 3.05μg/L,respectively.At a concentration of 1—1000μg/L,both analytes had good determination coefficients(>0.999)of calibration curve.The recoveries of DMAPP and FPP were between 99.0%and 117.1%.In real samples detection,the contents of DMAPP and FPP in TKS samples were between 23.32—82.77μg/L and 12.03—85.67μg/L,respectively.Thus,this approach is a reliable method to quantify DMAPP and FPP in TKS.

Trace-Level Analysis of Hexavalent Chromium in Lake Sediment Samples Using Ion Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry

The analysis of hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI), in soil and sediment samples has been predominantly carried out in materials containing elevated levels. Reliable analysis of trace-level of Cr(VI) in sediment samples remains challenging. Cr(VI) analyses with multipoint calibration and speciated isotope dilution (SID) adapted from U.S. EPA method 6800 were used to measure lower-level Cr(VI) on an ion chromatograph coupled with a tandem mass spectrometer (IC-MS/MS). Lake sediment samples were collected from various locations in Northern Ontario and Cr(VI) was extracted using both alkaline digestion and ethylene diaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) extraction. Certified reference materials were extracted and analyzed by IC-MS/MS and UV-VIS detection. The SID-MS approach allowed for the quantification of Cr(VI) in samples with concentration levels below 0.5 μg.g-1 wet weight.

Development of a Liquid Chromatography-tandem Mass Spectrometry Method for Determination of Butoconazole Nitrate in Human Plasma and Its Application to a Pharmacokinetic Study

Summary： A liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry （LC-MS/MS） method was developed and validated for the determination of butoconazole in human plasma. Human plasma samples of 0.2 μL were pretreated by a single step protein precipitation procedure and analyzed using a high performance liquid chromatography （HPLC） electrospray tandem mass spectrometer system. The compounds were eluted isocratically on an Inertsil ODS-SP column （100 min×2.1 mm, 3 μm）, ionized using a positive ion atmospheric pressure electrospray ionization source and analyzed using multiple reaction monitoring （MRM） mode. The ion transitions monitored were m/z 412.8→q65.1 for butoconazole and m/z 453.4→230.3 for the internal standard. The chromatographic run time was 3.5 min per injection, with retention time of 2.47 rain and 2.15 min for butoconazole and repaglinide, respectively. The method was validated to be linear over the range of 20 to 8000 pg/mL （r〉0.999） by using a weighted （1/x2） quadratic regression. The mean recovery rate was more than 86.7%, and the intra- and inter-day precision of the quality control samples （QCs） was less than 8.3% and the accuracy ranged from 96.0% to 110.2%, which indicated that the quantitative method was reliable and accurate. The method is simple, rapid, and has been applied successfully to a pharmacokinetics study of butoconazole nitrate suppositories in healthy Chinese females.

Application of Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry in Determination of Veterinary Drug Residues

With the long -term and irrational use of veterinary drugs and drug additives in the process of animal feeding, the veterinary drug resi- dues in animals and their additives can be ingested into the human body and pose potential threat to human health. Detection of veterinary drug resi- dues are extremely important practical significance to protect the ecological environment and human health. In recent years, liquid chromatography -tandem mass spectrometry has been widely used in vetednary drug residue detection because of its applicability, qualitative and quantitative fea- tures as well as high sensitivity. This article summarized the application of liquid chromatography -tandem mass spectrometry in detection veterinary drug residues from feed, animal products, arid udne as well as illicit drugs and harmful additives.

Liquid Chromatography-electrospray Ionization Tandem Mass Spectrometry for Simultaneous Determination of Metformin and Glimepiride in Beagle Dog Plasma and Bioequivalence Study

A sensitive and selective liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry（LC- ES1-MS/MS） was used for the simultaneous determination of metformin and glimepiride in beagle dog plasma with glipizide as internal standard（IS）. After simplified protein precipitation with methanol, both the analytes and IS were chromatographed on a Zorbax CN column via gradient elution with methanol（containing 5 mmol/L ammonium ace- tate） and 5 mmol/L aqueous ammonium acetate as the mobile phase. Detection was performed by multiple reaction monitoring（MRM） scanning via ESI source operated in positive ionization mode. Specificity, linearity, accuracy, pre- cision, recovery, matrix effect and stability were validated for metformin and glimepiride in beagle dog plasma. The calibration curves were linear in a concentration range of 10-10000 ng/mL for metformin and 4-4000 ng/mL for glimepiride with both correlation coefficients higher than 0.99. The recoveries obtained for the analytes and IS were all between 82.7% and 101.2%. The method exhibited excellent performance in terms of selectivity, robustness, short analytical time and simplicity of sample preparation. Finally, the proposed method was applied to a bioequivalence study of self-made bilayer tablet and commercial formulation containing 500 mg of metformin and 1 mg of glimepi- ride in beagle dogs.

Stable Isotope Dilution Analysis of Gibberellin Residues in Tomato Paste by Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry

An accurate and sensitive method for the simultaneous determination of gibberellic acid（GA3）, gibberellin A4（GA4） and gibberellin A7（GA7） residues in tomato paste was developed by coupling solid phase extraction to high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry（LC-MS/MS） with electrospray ionization based stable isotope dilution analysis（SIDA）. The isotope labeled internal standard can compensate for the losses during the extraction and cleanup steps and for discrimination due to ion suppression. After extraction from methanol, hydrophile lipophilic balance（HLB） solid phase extraction（SPE） column was tested for the capacity of the cleanup of the tomato paste in compared with C18 SPE column which is the common way to the detection of GAs, and the former gained better result. Spiked experiments were performed in the non-contaminated tomato pastes and the recoveries of GA3, GA4 and GA7 were 42.6%―75.0% in external standard method（ESM） and 91.1%―103.8% in internal standard method（ISM） respectively. The validities of this method were investigated and good analytical performance for the three GAs was obtained, including low limits of method detection（2 ng/g for GA3 and GA4, 0.3 ng/g for GA7）, excellent linear dynamic ranges（5―500 ng/g for GA3 and GA4, 1―100 ng/g for GA7） and good relative standard deviation ranges（4.8%―9.4% for the intra-day test and 3.5%―11.9% for the inter-day test）.

Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry Assay to Detect Ethyl Glucuronide in Human Fingernail: Comparison to Hair and Gender Differences

Over the past decade, the use of hair specimens for the long-term detection of the alcohol biomarker ethyl glucuronide has been increasing in popularity and usage. We evaluated the usefulness of fingernail clippings as a suitable alterna-tive to hair for ethyl glucuronide detection. A liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the detection of ethyl glucuronide in fingernail clippings was fully validated and used to analyze the hair and/or fingernail specimens of 606 college-aged study participants. The limit of detection was 2 pg/mg, the limit of quantitation was 8 pg/mg and the method was linear from 8 to 2000 pg/mg. Intra- and inter-assay imprecision studies at three different concentrations (20, 40, 200 pg/mg) were all within 7.8% and all intra- and inter-assay bias studies at these levels were within 115.1% of target concentration. Ethyl glucuronide levels in fingernail (mean = 29.1 ± 55.6 pg/mg) were higher than ethyl glucuronide levels in hair (mean = 9.48 ± 22.3 pg/mg) and a correlation of the matched pairs was observed (r = 0.552, P < 0.01, n = 529). Evaluating each gender separately revealed that the correlation of male fingernail to male hair was large and significant (r = 0.782, P < 0.01, n = 195) while female hair to female fingernail was small yet sig-nificant (r = 0.249, P < 0.01, n = 334). The study results demonstrated that fingernail may be a suitable alternative to hair for ethyl glucuronide detection and may be the preferred sample type due to the lack of a gender bias.

Simultaneous analysis of allopurinol and oxypurinol using a validated liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method in human plasma

The present study describes a simple, reliable and reproducible liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method(LC–MS/MS) for the simultaneous determination of allopurinol and its active metabolite,oxypurinol in human plasma for a pharmacokinetic/bioequivalence study. After protein precipitation(PPT) of100 μL plasma sample with 1.0% formic acid in acetonitrile, the recovery of the analytes and allopurinol-d2 as an internal standard ranged from 85.36% to 91.20%. The analytes were separated on Hypersil Gold(150 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm) column using 0.1% formic acid-acetonitrile(98:2, v/v) as the mobile phase.Quantification was done using electrospray ionization in the positive mode. The calibration concentration range was established from 60.0 to 6000 ng/m L for allopurinol and 80.0–8000 ng/m L for oxypurinol. Matrix effect in human plasma, expressed as IS-normalized matrix factors ranged from 1.003 to 1.030 for both the analytes. The developed method was found suitable for a clinical study with 300 mg allopurinol tablet formulation in healthy subjects.

Modernization of Chinese herbal compound and the high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS)

Chinese herbal compound is playing an important role on curing human diseases.And it has been a trend that Chinese herbal compound is being used all over the world in 21 century.However,our Chinese herbal compound is facing serious challenge for the lack of canonical system of quality criterion for Chinese herbal compound so it has been a urgent problem to set up the quality control standards and reveal therapeutic basis of Chinese herbal compound.In order to give full play to the advantages of Chinese herbal compound,modern scientific and technological is used to research of Chinese herbal compound,especially the high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry(HPLC-MS),because it is high sensitive,rapid,and obtain more information.It is very necessary that HPLC-MS is uesed to elucidate the effective components of basic substances of Chinese Herbal Compound,and endow traditional Chinese medicine with modern scientific connotation.

The Detection of THCA Using 2-Dimensional Gas Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry in Human Fingernail Clippings: Method Validation and Comparison with Head Hair

Marijuana use as well as abuse is a significant public health and public safety concern in the United States and using hair to identify marijuana users and abusers has been gaining acceptance in a number of venues including workplace, court ordered, and substance abuse treatment monitoring. After the presentation of a fully validated 2-dimensional gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the detection of 11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THCA), the chief metabolite of the main psychoactive compound in marijuana, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), we evaluated the usefulness of fingernail clippings as an alternative specimen type to hair by the analysis of a set of 60 matched pairs of head hair and fingernail clippings. The limit of detection was 10 fg/mg, the limit of quantitation was 20 fg/mg, and the assay was linear from 20 fg/mg to 500 fg/mg. The intra- and inter-assay imprecision and bias studies at 4 different concentrations (50, 100, 500, and 1000 fg/mg) were acceptable where all % Target observations were within 16% of their expected concentrations and all %CV calculations were less than 13.5%. THCA was detectable in more fingernail specimens (53.3%) than hair specimens (46.7%) and the mean concentrations in nails were on average 4.9 times higher than in hair (1813 fg/mg and 364 fg/mg, respectively). The THCA concentrations in hair and nail were strongly associated (r = 0.974, P < 0.01, n = 60) and the association was significant. The study demonstrated that fingernail clippings are a suitable alternative specimen type to hair to monitor for marijuana use and abuse.

Rapid Analysis of Nicotine in Mushrooms Using QuEChERS Extraction and Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry

A procedure based on the QuEChERS methodology and Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry （LC/MS/MS） is described, for the determination of Nicotine in mushrooms. QuEChERS methodology was used to determine Nicotine in dried and fresh mushrooms under basic conditions with primary secondary amino sorbent （PSA） clean up. The chromatography was performed on C 18 reversed phase column using a gradient of acetonitrile and ammonium formiate lmM pH = 3.4 as mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.3 mL min^-1. Nicotine was determined by using Nicotine-d3 as internal standard. Limit of quantification （LOQ） was 0.01 mg kg^-1 for both fresh and dried mushrooms. Calibration curve was linear over the concentration range of 0.01-2.3 mg mL^-1, with r2 〉 0.99. As for recoveries in dried mushrooms, spiking levels of 0.32 mg kg^-1 and 2 mg kg^-1 were considered whereas for the fresh mushrooms the recoveries were determined at 0.036 mg kg^-1 and 0.36 mg kg^-1. Satisfactory results were obtained for both matrices and the recoveries proved to range from 105% to 135%, with a standard deviation in the range 17-20. The method was applied to the analysis of Nicotine to assess the levels of nicotine in fresh and dried mushrooms.