HPLC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous determination of MB07133 and its metabolites, cytarabine and arabinofuranosyluracil, in rat plasma

Abstract MB07133 is an intravenously administered cytarabine mononucleotide (araCMP) prodrug, for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A simple, selective and sensitive HPLC-MS/MS method using high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer, was developed and validated for the detection of prodrug MB07133 and its metabolites, cytarabine (araC) and arabinofuranosyluracil (araU) in rat plasma. Protein precipitation using 3% trichloroacetic acid (TCA) was employed to extract analytes from 100 μL rat plasma. Adequate separation of araC and araU from their endogenous compounds was achieved on the Synergi ® fusion-RP column (150 mm × 4.6 mm, 4 μm) by a gradient-elution with a mobile phase consisting of ammonium formate (1 mM) and methanol at a flow rate of 1 mL/min. Multiple reaction monitoring mode (MRM) was applied in the detection of MB07133, araC, araU and Ganciclovir (internal standard) with ion pairs 441.2/330.2, 244.2/112.2, 245.2/113.2 and 256.1/152.2, respectively. The assays were validated with respect to specificity, linearity (100–50000 ng/mL for MB07133, 2–1000 ng/mL for araC and araU), accuracy and precision, extraction recovery, matrix effect and stability. The validated method has been successfully applied to an intravenous bolus pharmacokinetic study of MB07133 in male Sprague-Dawley rats (18 mg/kg i.v.).