Use of a small particle solid-core packing for improved efficiency and rapid measurement of sirolimus and everolimus by LC-MS/MS.

Measurement of whole blood sirolimus and everolimus is required in order to optimize patient treatment following solid organ transplant. Assay by LC-MS/MS is increasingly preferred; however efficient use of the instrument and short turnaround times are crucial. Use of a 1.6 µm solid-core packing HPLC column (Cortecs) gave significant increases in efficiency, sensitivity and throughput compared with an existing method, following simple protein precipitation of small-volume (20 μL) whole blood samples. Sirolimus, everolimus and the stable isotopic internal standard ((13) C2 D4 - everolimus) eluted at around 0.8 min, and total analytical run time was 2.2 min, saving almost 4 min per sample compared with an existing method. Within-assay imprecision (CV) was 3.3-8.5%, and between-assay imprecision was 2.2-10.8%. Retrospective assay of external quality assurance samples and comparison of patient samples assayed in parallel showed only small differences (between +6.8 and -1.9%) in results using the Cortecs column when compared with the existing method. No significant interferences or ion suppression were observed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.