Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Determination of Cetrizine Hydrochloride in Rabbit Plasma

Abstract

A sensitive and highly selective liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method was developed to determine cetrizine chloride in rabbit plasma. The analyte and internal standard levocetrizine were extracted from plasma samples and liquid-liquid extraction with ethyl acetate and chromatographed on a C₁₈ column. The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile:water (70:30 v/v). Detection was performed on a single quadrupole mass spectrometer by selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode via atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) source. The method has a limit of quantification of 10 ng/mL. The linear calibration curves were obtained in the concentration range of 10-500 ng/mL. The intra- and inter-day precisions were lower than 4.4 % in terms of relative standard deviation (RSD). This validated method was successfully applied for the evaluation of pharmacokinetic profiles of cetrizine chloride tablets.