Development of a rapid UPLC-MS/MS method for quantification of saxagliptin in rat plasma and application to pharmacokinetic study.

A novel, simple and rapid ultraperformance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) assay was established for quantification of saxagliptin in rat plasma. Plasma samples were processed by liquid-liquid extraction with ethyl acetate and chromatographed on a C₁₈ column (2.1 × 50 mm i.d., 1.7 µm). The mobile phase consisted of methanol and 0.1% formic acid (40:60, v/v). Multiple reaction monitoring transitions were performed for detection in positive-ion mode with an electrospray ionization source. The calibration curve was linear over the concentration range of 0.5-100 ng/mL (R²  > 0.99). All accuracy values were between 90.62 and 105.60% relative error and the intra- and inter-day precisions were less than 9.66% relative standard deviation. Extraction recovery was more than 81.01% and the matrix effect ranged from 90.27 to 109.15%. After validation, the method was applied to a pharmacokinetic study where healthy rats were orally given 0.5 mg/kg saxagliptin.