Determination of dexmedetomidine in children's plasma by ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry and application to pharmacokinetic study

A rapid, sensitive, and selective ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was developed and validated for the determination and pharmacokinetic investigation of dexmedetomidine in children's plasma. Sample preparation was accomplished through a simple one-step deproteinization procedure with 0.2 mL of acetonitrile to a 0.1 mL plasma sample. Plasma samples were separated by UPLC on an Acquity UPLC BEH C18 column using a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile-0.1% formic acid in water with gradient elution. The total run time was 3.1 min and the elution of dexmedetomidine was at 1.24 min. The detection was performed on a triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer in the multiple reaction-monitoring mode using the respective transitions m/z 201.3 → 95.1 for dexmedetomidine and m/z 204.2 → 98.0 for the internal standard, respectively. The calibration curve was linear over the range of 0.05-10 ng/mL with a lower limit of quantitation of 0.05 ng/mL. Mean recovery rate of dexmedetomidine in plasma was in the range of 86.7-89.1%. Intra-day and inter-day precision were both <11.6%. This method was successfully applied in pharmacokinetic study after commencement of 1.0 μg/kg dexmedetomidine infusion in children.