Simultaneous determination of desloratadine and its active metabolite 3-hydroxydesloratadine in human plasma by LC/MS/MS and its application to pharmacokinetics and bioequivalence

A rapid and simple liquid chromatographic-tandem mass spectrometric (LC/MS/MS) method was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of desloratadine and its active metabolite 3-hydroxydesloratadine concentrations in human plasma. After liquid–liquid extraction with ethyl ether for sample preparation, the chromatographic separation was achieved on a CAPCELL PAK C18 column (50 mm × 2.0 mm, 5 μm, Shiseido). [2H4]desloratadine and [2H4]3-OH desloratadine were used as internal standards. A mobile phase consisted of 5 mM ammonium formate in water, methanol and acetonitrile (50:30:20). Detection was by positive ion electrospray tandem mass spectrometry on a Sciex API3000. A quadratic regression (weighted 1/concentration) gave the best fit for calibration curves over the concentration range 0.05–10 ng/mL for both desloratadine and 3-OH desloratadine. The method was shown to be accurate, rapid and sufficiently sensitive to be successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic and bioequivalent study.