Ultra sensitive determination of limaprost, a prostaglandin E1 analogue, in human plasma using on-line two-dimensional reversed-phase liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

A highly sensitive and selective method has been developed and validated to determine limaprost, a prostaglandin (PG) E1 analogue, in human plasma by on-line two-dimensional reversed-phase liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (2D-LC/MS/MS) due to the lack of efficient methods to determine very low levels of limaprost in plasma. Limaprost and its deuterium derivatives, used as internal standard, were extracted by protein precipitation and following three-step solid phase extractions. After extraction procedure, samples were analyzed by on-line 2D-LC/MS/MS with electrospray ionization in negative mode. The 2D-LC system consists of Phenyl column at first dimension and ODS at second dimension with a trapping column placed between the separation columns. The linear dynamic range of this method was 0.1–10 pg/ml with 3 ml of plasma (r > 0.9987). Acceptable precision and accuracy were obtained over the calibration curve ranges. The assay has been successfully used in analyses of human plasma samples to support clinical pharmacokinetics studies.