Measurement of 25-hydroxyvitamin D2, 25-hydroxyvitamin D3, 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D2 and 25,26-dihydroxyvitamin D2 in a single plasma sample by mass fragmentography.

A specific and sensitive assay for the measurement of the concentration of 25-hydroxyvitamin D2, 25-hydroxyvitamin D3, 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D2 and 25,26-dihydroxyvitamin D2 in a single plasma sample is described, using stable isotope dilution mass fragmentography. After addition of appropriate deuterium-labelled internal standards, plasma samples were treated with acetonitrile to precipitate protein, and vitamin D metabolites were extracted on prepacked microparticulate reverse-phase cartridges. Further purification was achieved using straight-phase cartridges and high-performance liquid chromatography. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was carried out after appropriate derivatisation of samples and standards. The method has been evaluated in terms of specificity, recovery of added standards, and reproducibility.