Abstract
We report the development and validation of a high-performance liquid-chromatographic–tandem mass spectrometric method for determination of artemether (ARM) and its active metabolite dihydroartemisinin (DHA) in human plasma; artemisinin was used as internal standard (IS). Chromatographic separation was performed on a 150 mm × 4.6 mm i.d., 5 μm particle, C18 column coupled with a 4.0 mm × 3.0 mm i.d., 5 μm particle, C18 guard column. The mobile phase was acetonitrile–0.1% formic acid solution, 80:20 (v/v), at a flow-rate of 1 mL min−1. An atmospheric-pressure chemical-ionization (APCI) interface was used to produce sample ions, and positive ions were quantified by using the MS detector in selected-reaction-monitoring mode, using the reaction m/z 221 to 163 for determination of ARM and DHA and the reaction m/z 283 to 219 for determination of the IS. Plasma samples were prepared by extraction with methyl t-butyl ether, evaporation of the extract to dryness, and reconstitution of the residue with mobile phase. Extraction recovery for ARM and DHA ranged from 74.74 to 99.39%. High specificity and a limit of quantification of 5 ng mL−1 were achieved for ARM and DHA. Linearity was confirmed over the concentration range 5–500 ng mL−1; the correlation coefficients (R) were >0.99. The relative standard deviation for intra-day and inter-day assay of both compounds was <9.60% and inaccuracy was within ±10.81%. Stock solutions were stable at 4 °C for at least 720 h. Processed extracts were stable at room temperature for at least 24 h and QC samples were stable during three freeze–thaw cycles. In spiked human plasma under ambient conditions ARM was stable for at least 8 h whereas DHA was stable for 2 h only.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
De Vries PJ, Dien TK (1996) Drugs 52:818
Hien TT, Davis TM, Chuong LV, Ilett KF, Sinh DX, Phu NH, Agus C, Chiswell GM, White NJ, Farrar J (2004) Antimicrob Agents Chemother 484:234
Batty KT, Davis TME, Thu LTA (1997) J Chromatogr B 691:145
Karbwang J, Na-Bangchang K, Molunto P, Banmairuroi V, Congpuong K (1997) J Chromatogr B 690:259
Souppart C, Gauducheau N, Sandrenan N, Richard F (2002) J Chromatogr B 774:195
Green MD, Mount DL, Todd GD, Capomacc AC (1995) J Chromatogr A 695:237
Mohamed SS, Khalid SA, Ward SA, Wan TS, Tang HP, Zheng M, Haynes RK, Edwards G (1999) J Chromatogr B 731:251
Mithwani S, Aarons L, Kokwaro GO, Majid O, Muchohi S, Edwards G, Mohamed S, Marsh K, Watkins W (2004) Br J Clin Pharmacol 57:146
Sabarinath S, Rajanikanth M, Madhusudanan KP, Gupta RC (2003) J Mass Spectrom 38:732
Naik H, Murry DJ, Kirsch LE, Fleckenstein L (2005) J Chromatogr B 816:233
White NJ, Van-Vugt M, Ezzet F (1999) Clin Pharmacokinet 37:105
Kamolrat S, Paul NN, Paktiya TI, Yupin S, Duangsuda S, Maneerat R, Sasithon P, Nicholas JW (2003) Antimicrob Agents Chemother 47:3795
Le NH, Na-Bangchang K, Le TD, Thrinh KA, Karbwang J (1999) Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health 30:11
Mordi MN, Mansor SM, Navaratnam V, Wernsdorfer WH (1997) Br J Clin Pharmacol 43:36
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shi, B., Yu, Y., Li, Z. et al. Quantitative Analysis of Artemether and its Metabolite Dihydroartemisinin in Human Plasma by LC with Tandem Mass Spectrometry. Chroma 64, 523–530 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1365/s10337-006-0064-y
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1365/s10337-006-0064-y