Liquid chromatography/positive ion electrospray tandem mass spectrometry method for the quantification of hydrochloride meptazinol in human plasma: Application to a pharmacokinetic study

A robust and validated liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) method with positive electrospray ionization (ESI) was developed for the determination of hydrochloride meptazinol in human plasma. After liquid–liquid extraction of 200 μl of human plasma, HPLC separation was achieved on a Thermo Hypurity Cyano column, using acetonitrile:ammonium formate (50 mM, aq) (70:30, v/v) as the mobile phase. The mass spectrometer was operated in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode using the transition m/z 234 → 234 for meptazinol and m/z 152 → 110 for the IS (acetaminophen), respectively. The calibration curves were linear over the range of 0.2925–292.5 ng/ml, with the limit of quantification (LOQ) 0.2925 ng/ml. The mean absolute recovery of hydrochloride meptazinol was more than 70.21%. Intra- and inter-day precisions were less than 9.05% and 12.89%, respectively. And the accuracy was within −2.99% to 4.96%. This method was applied to a pharmacokinetic study of hydrochloride meptazinol tablets in healthy Chinese volunteers.