Quantitative analysis of pharmacokinetic study samples by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).

The basis of all pharmacokinetic evaluations are powerful assays to quantify drugs and/or metabolites in biological matrices using modern sensitive instrumental analytical techniques, such as capillary gas chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Being both specific and universal, mass spectrometry (MS) is an ideal chromatographic detector. Due to recent exciting achievements in the interfacing of liquid chromatography (LC) and MS, LC-MS, like the successfully preceding hyphenated technique gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), has now become a valuable technique in the analyst's toolbox. The key features of LC-MS are explained and four examples demonstrating its potential for highly specific and sensitive routine drug assays with the option of high sample throughput in pharmacokinetic investigations are presented.