Highly sensitive fast determination of entecavir in rat urine by means of hydrophilic interaction chromatography–ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

Entecavir is a deoxyguanosine nucleotide antiviral agent with the activity against hepatitis B virus (HBV). The agent possesses a polar structure, which is predetermined for hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC). Novel, fast and sensitive HILIC–UHPLC method developed in this study included separation from matrix component on BEH Amide stationary phase by isocratic elution using binary mobile phase composed of acetonitrile/5 mM ammonium acetate pH 4.0 (75:25) at flow-rate 0.3 ml/min. Analysis under RP-UHPLC conditions was also possible on BEH C18 stationary phase with mostly aqueous binary mobile phase composed of (4:96) acetonitrile/0.01% formic acid. The comparison of sensitivity of the two UHPLC–MS/MS methods both using selected reaction monitoring (SRM) for quantitation revealed only slightly higher sensitivity for HILIC determination, however much better method linearity, repeatability and accuracy. HILIC separation mode provided also more convenient conditions for straightforward coupling with solid phase extraction (SPE). Entecavir was extracted on Oasis HLB cartridge (1 ml, 30 mg) and eluted by 75% acetonitrile in water, which is actually the HILIC mobile phase used in this study. Therefore the evaporation/reconstitution step was omitted, which substantially accelerated the sample preparation step. The method was validated using stable isotopically labeled internal standard entecavir-C213 N15, which is the most appropriate internal standard. Validation results demonstrated good method accuracy (with < 5% error, and 26% at LOQ), recovery (87–114%), precision (<4% RSD), selectivity and sensitivity (LOQ = 100 pg/ml). The matrix effects determined by both post-column infusion method as well as post-extraction addition method were negligible (<15%).

► Developed LC–MS/MS method for determination of entecavir was fast and sensitive.
► HILIC separation mode was used to provide good retention and selectivity.
► Sample preparation procedure was directly compatible with HILIC determination.
► Various strategies to reduce matrix effects were applied.
► The application to rat urine was first reported.