Simultaneous Measurement of 11 Antibiotics for Use in the Intensive Care Unit by Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry.

BACKGROUND

Recent studies indicate that a high proportion of patients in the intensive care unit fail to attain adequate antibiotic levels. Thus, there is a need to monitor the antibiotic concentration to ensure effective treatment. In this article, the authors aimed to develop an ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) method for the simultaneous quantification of antimicrobials to assess individualized therapeutic drug monitoring.

METHODS

A UHPLC-MS/MS method with 11 antibiotics (ciprofloxacin, moxifloxacin, benzylpenicillin, levofloxacin, linezolid, rifampicin, meropenem, cloxacillin, cefotaxime, clindamycin, and piperacillin) was developed. Chromatographic separation was performed using a Kinetex Biphenyl reversed-phase column, with gradient elution using 0.1% formic acid and methanol with 0.1% formic acid. Sample preparation was performed using methanol protein precipitation. The total run time was 5 minutes.

RESULTS

For all analytes, the interassay inaccuracies for calibrators were ≤5%. The interday inaccuracies for the quality controls (QCs) were ≤5% for all analytes. The interassay precision for calibration standards ranged between 1.42% and 6.11%. The interassay imprecision for QCs of all antibiotics and concentrations ranged between 3.60% and 16.1%. Interassay inaccuracy and imprecision for the QCs and calibration standards were ≤15% for all drugs, except benzylpenicillin.

CONCLUSIONS

A rapid UHPLC-MS/MS method was developed for the simultaneous quantification of 11 different antibiotics. Minimal sample preparation was required to ensure a rapid turnaround time. The method was applied to clinical samples collected from 4 intensive care units.