Determination of clopidogrel metabolite (SR26334) in human plasma by LC–MS

A new, sensitive, specific and reproducible method for determination of clopidogrel metabolite (SR26334) in human plasma has been developed. After liquid–liquid extraction on Chem Elut cartridges with dichloromethane, samples were quantified using reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography with mass detection. The determination was performed on a Luna C18, 3 μm (75 mm × 4.6 mm i.d.) column with an acetonitrile-water-formic acid mixture (60:40:0.1, v/v/v) as a mobile phase. The flow rate was set at 0.2 mL/min. Repaglinide was chosen as an internal standard and the time of analysis was 12 min. For SR26334 the limits of detection and quantification were 7.5 ng/mL and 20 ng/mL, respectively, and the calibration curve was linear up to 3000 ng/mL. The extraction recovery of SR26334 from plasma was within the range of 85–90%. The method has been successfully used to study clopidogrel metabolite pharmacokinetics in healthy volunteers.