Development and validation of a liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry method for the quantitation of naltrexone and 6β-naltrexol in guinea pig plasma

A quantitative liquid chromatographic–electrospray ionization mass spectrometry method for the determination of naltrexone and 6β-naltrexol in guinea pig plasma has been developed and validated using naloxone as an internal standard. A single step precipitation-extraction technique was carried out to extract the plasma samples using acetonitrile:ethyl acetate (1:1, v/v). The chromatographic separation was performed on a C18 column using a mobile phase consisting of 35:65 (v/v) acetonitrile:2 mM ammonium acetate with 0.01 mM ammonium citrate at a flow rate of 0.25 mL/min. The analyte was detected after positive electrospray ionization using selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode. The mean recoveries for naltrexone, naltrexol, and naloxone were 91.7, 89.3, and 99.0%, respectively. The lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) for naltrexone and 6β-naltrexol was 1.25 ng/mL, and the limit of detection (LOD) was 0.75 ng/mL. The method was applied to a pharmacokinetic study in order to assess the drug disposition of naltrexone in guinea pigs.