Liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometric assay for sorafenib and sorafenib–glucuronide in mouse plasma and liver homogenate and identification of the glucuronide metabolite

The first bioanalytical assay for the simultaneous determination of sorafenib and sorafenib–glucuronide in mouse plasma and liver homogenate was developed and validated. In addition, the structure of the glucuronide metabolite was elucidated. The quantitative assay started with addition of isotopically labeled internal standards to a 20 μl sample volume and protein precipitation with acetonitrile, the supernatant was diluted with water and injected into the chromatographic system. A polar embedded reversed-phase column with gradient elution using formic acid in water–acetonitrile was used. The eluate was transferred into an electrospray interface with positive ionization and the analytes were detected and quantified using triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. The assay was validated in the ranges 10–5000 ng/ml for sorafenib and 1–500 ng/ml for sorafenib–glucuronide, the lowest levels of these ranges (10 and 1 ng/ml) being the lower limits of quantification (LLQ). Within day precisions were 2–8%, between day precisions 2–10% (both excluded the LLQ level of the glucuronide) and accuracies were between 89% and 106%. Both analytes were chemically stable under all relevant conditions. The assay was successfully applied in pilot in vivo pharmacokinetic studies with sorafenib in mice.