Development of a liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method for iothalamate measurement to assess renal function for potential kidney donation

BackgroundChronic kidney disease often goes undetected due to the insensitivity of current methods to accurately assess glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in early stages of renal dysfunction. The clearance of exogenously introduced iothalamate, a commonly used radiopaque agent, is an alternative to inulin clearance for the assessment of renal function and its use in calculating GFR can serve as a screening tool for kidney transplant donors.MethodsA method was developed to measure iothalamate in plasma and urine samples by HPLC combined with electrospray positive ionization tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Iothalamate is isolated from plasma by methanol extraction and urine using a quick-spin filtration approach, then monitored by multiple reaction monitoring using the hydrogen adduct mass transitions. Iohexol was used as an internal standard.ResultsIothalamate was measured within an analytical run time of 5 min, with a lower limit of quantification of 18.75 ng/ml. The intraassay and interassay variations of the plasma and urine iothalamate assays were both < 9%. Recovery from plasma and urine samples ranged from 93.6% to 104.1%. GFR was calculated using the patient's urine flow rate and plasma and urine iothalamate values. Linear correlations tested by LC–MS/MS and an accepted capillary electrophoresis (CE) assay showed similar results (GFR, r = 0.92, Sy/x = 10.3).ConclusionsWe developed and validated an LC-MS/MS method for quantitating iothalamate in plasma and urine to calculate GFR used for screening potential kidney donors in our hospital system. A less sensitive mass spectrometry system does not sacrifice analytical or clinical sensitivity for measuring GFR.

► Iothalamate by LC–MS/MS for glomerular filtration rate (GFR) measurement
► A less sensitive MS system does not sacrifice sensitivity for measuring GFR.
► Comparison of measured GFR and its effect on potential kidney donations