LC–MS/MS method for the quantification of almotriptan in dialysates: Application to rat brain and blood microdialysis study

•LC–MS/MS method was developed for almotriptan quantitation in rat dialysates.•Quantified dialysate samples obtained in microdialysis study of blood and brain.•Dialysate concentrations are converted to actual concentrations by probe recoveries.•Almotriptan blood AUCubo/brain AUCub was found to be 0.07 ± 0.05.

A sensitive LC–MS/MS method was developed and validated for the quantification of almotriptan in rat brain and blood dialysates. Almotriptan is a 5HT1B/1D receptor agonist used for the treatment of migraine pain. Method consists of rapid gradient elution program with 10 mM ammonium formate (pH 3) and acetonitrile on a Xbridge column. The MRM transitions monitored were m/z 336.2–58.1 for almotriptan and m/z 448.2–285.3 for the IS. The assay was linear in the range of 0.1–20 ng/ml, with acceptable precision and accuracy along with adequate sensitivity. The between batch accuracy was in the range of 99.0–104.3% with precision in between 0.6% and 5.8%. Microdialysis is an important sampling technique, with the capability of capturing the concentrations of various analytes in different bio fluids, at a single time point. This method was applied to quantify brain and blood dialysate samples obtained from a microdialysis study of rats treated with almotriptan (10 mg/kg, p.o.). In vivo recovery experiments were performed to correct the dialysate concentrations into extracellular concentrations. Mean peak dialysate concentrations of almotriptan were found to be 152 ± 78 and 7.4 ± 1.0 ng/ml in blood and prefrontal cortex, respectively. The brain penetration of almotriptan is characterized by the AUCbrain/AUCblood found to be 0.07 ± 0.05. The results revealed the importance of measuring the unbound almotriptan concentrations in the brain over the blood for understanding its PK/PD relationship.

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