Simultaneous determination of acrylamide, its metabolite glycidamide and antipyrine in human placental perfusion fluid and placental tissue by liquid chromatography–electrospray tandem mass spectrometry

A rapid and sensitive method using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) was developed for the simultaneous determination of acrylamide (AA) and its genotoxic metabolite glycidamide (GA) with a test marker antipyrine (AP) in placental tissue and perfusion medium used in human placental perfusion studies. An internal standard (13C-acrylamide) was added to the samples which were then deproteinized with acetonitrile. Chromatographic separation was performed on a reversed phase column with a gradient elution of acetonitrile and 0.01% formic acid at a flow rate of 0.3 mL/min. Detection and quantification of the analytes were carried out with a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer using positive electrospray ionization (ESI) and multiple reaction monitoring (MRM). The method was validated and linear over a concentration range of 0.5–20 μg/mL for acrylamide and glycidamide and 5–200 μg/mL for antipyrine. The lower limit of quantification for acrylamide and glycidamide was 0.5 μg/mL and for antipyrine 5 μg/mL. The method was selective, and good accuracy, precision, recovery, and stability were obtained for concentrations within the standard curve. The method was successfully used to analyze the placental perfusion medium and tissue samples in a toxicokinetic study for transplacental transfer of acrylamide and glycidamide. This is the first time that acrylamide, glycidamide and antipyrine are measured simultaneously.