Simple, Sensitive and Rapid LC–ESI–MS Method for the Quantitation of Olprinone in Rat Plasma

Olprinone is a phosphodiesterase (PDE)-3 inhibitor. This paper describes a simple, selective and sensitive method for the quantification of olprinone in rat plasma using a liquid–liquid extraction procedure followed by liquid chromatography mass spectrometric (LC–MS) analysis. The method had an advantage of high sensitivity. Analyses were conducted at a flow rate of 0.25 mL min−1 by a gradient elution. The detection utilized selected ion monitoring in the positive ion mode at m/z 251.0 and 344.0 for the protonated molecular ions of olprinone and the internal standard, respectively. The quantitation limit for olprinone in rat plasma was 0.5 ng mL−1. The linearity was also excellent over the concentration range of 0.5–100 ng mL−1 of olprinone. The intra- and inter-day precision (relative standard deviation (RSD) %) was lower than 10%, and accuracy ranged from 90 to 110%. This developed method was successfully applied to analysis of olprinone in biological fluids.