Quantitative measurement of BN50727 in human plasma and urine by combined liquid chromatography/negative ion chemical ionization mass spectrometry using a particle beam interface

A new sensitive assay has been developed for the quantitative measurement of BN50727 at the picomole level in human plasma and urine. The drug and the internal standard (BN50788) were measured by combined liquid chromatography/negative ion chemical ionization mass spectrometry with methane as the reagent gas. A simple solid-liquid extraction procedure was used to isolate BN50727 from the complex biological matrices. The mass spectrometer was tuned to monitor the intense and stable ion at m/z 333 which was generated in the ion source by a dissociative capture process. This assay was performed with 1 ml of plasma or 0.1 ml of urine and the quantification limit of the method was statistically calculated as 1 ng ml−1. The very low relative standard deviations and mean percentages of error calculated during the different within-day or between-day repeatability assays have clearly demonstrated the ruggedness of the technique for the routine determination of BN50727 in biological fluids. Some preliminary results on the pharmacokinetics of the drug are presented to illustrate the applicability of this powerful liquid chromatographic/mass spectrometric method.