Development and validation of a sensitive and rapid method to determine naratriptan in human plasma by LC-ESI-MS-MS: application to a bioequivalence study.

A simple, sensitive, selective, and rapid high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method is developed and validated for the quantitation of naratriptan, using sumatriptan as internal standard (IS). The method included liquid-liquid extraction of naratriptan and IS with methyl-tert-butyl ether and dichloromethane mixture from 100 μL human plasma. The chromatographic separation is achieved on ACE C18 (50 mm × 2.1 mm, 5 μm) analytical column under isocratic conditions, using 0.1% acetic acid and acetonitrile (15:85, v/v) at a flow-rate of 0.4 mL/min. The precursor → product ion transitions for naratriptan (m/z 336.10 → 98.06) and IS (m/z 296.09 → 251.06) were monitored on a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer, operating in the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) and positive ion mode. The linearity of the method for naratriptan is determined in the range of 103-20690 pg/mL with the analysis time of 1.5 min. The method is fully validated according to USFDA guidelines. A systematic post-column infusion study is conducted for ion-suppression due to endogenous matrix components. The process efficiency of analyte (96%) and IS (93%) from spiked plasma samples was consistent and reproducible. The application of the method is demonstrated by a bioequivalence study of 2.5 mg naratriptan tablet formulation in 31 healthy volunteers under fasting conditions.