Determination of tiropramide in human plasma by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

A rapid, sensitive and selective liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometric (LC/MS/MS) method for the determination of tiropramide in human plasma was developed. Tiropramide and internal standard, cisapride were extracted from human plasma by liquid–liquid extraction and analyzed on a Luna C8 column with the mobile phase of acetonitrile-ammonium formate (10 mM, pH 4.5) (50:50, v/v). The analytes was detected using an electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry in the multiple-reaction-monitoring mode. The standard curve was linear (r=0.998) over the concentration range of 2.0–200 ng/ml. The intra- and inter-assay coefficients of variation ranged from 2.8 to 7.8 and 6.7 to 8.9%, respectively. The recoveries of tiropramide ranged from 50.2 to 53.1%, with that of cisapride (internal standard) being 60.9±5.3%. The lower limit of quantification for tiropramide was 2.0 ng/ml using 100 μl plasma sample. This method was applied to the pharmacokinetic study of tiropramide in human.