Determination of 3-methoxysalicylamine levels in mouse plasma and tissue by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry: Application to in vivo pharmacokinetics studies

We report the development of a sensitive liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometric assay to quantitate 3-methoxysalicylamine (3-MoSA) in biological samples. Derivatization with 1,1′-thiocarbonyldiimidazole followed by C18 reverse-phase chromatography allowed the detection of both analyte and internal standard (hexylsalicylamine) using electrospray ionization and selected reaction monitoring (SRM) in positive ion mode. We monitored the transitions from m/z 196.7 to 65.1 and from m/z 250.1 to 77.1 for 3-MoSA and HxSA, respectively. The method is validated with respect to linearity (r2 = 0.995), precision (<17% RSD), recovery (100% for 3-MoSA and HxSA), and stability (77% after storage up to 7 month at −80 °C). The LOD and LOQ were 16.12 and 48.87 μg/l, respectively and the LLOQ of 1 pg/ml. In addition, we used this assay to analyze the pharmacokinetics of 3-MoSA in mouse plasma and tissues following both intraperitoneal and oral administration, providing new information regarding the distribution of this compound in vivo.