Automated sample preparation on-line with thermospray high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry for the determination of drugs in plasma.

The combination of a solid-phase extraction module, the AASP, on-line with thermospray high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry for the automated determination of drugs in plasma is described. The technique was evaluated successfully using, as an example, the determination of labetalol in human plasma. [2H7]Labetalol was used as an internal standard to compensate for changes in ionization efficiencies between analyses. The chromatographic and mass spectrometric conditions were optimized for labetalol. The combined technique was demonstrated as being robust and reliable for the analysis of plasma samples from a clinical study.