Quantification of tripdiolide in human whole blood by liquid chromatography coupled with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization tandem mass spectrometry

A liquid chromatographic-tandem mass spectrometric (LC–MS/MS) assay was developed and validated to determine tripdiolide in human whole blood using dexamethasone acetate as an internal standard (I.S.). Liquid–liquid extraction with ethyl acetate was used to isolate them from the biological matrix. Detection was performed on a mass spectrometer coupled with a negative atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) in the multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. The calibration curve was linear (r2 = 0.9973) in the concentration range of 0.5–100.0 ng/mL in human whole blood with a lower limit of quantification of 0.5 ng/mL. Intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviations (R.S.D.s) were less than 7.0 and 10.1%, respectively. Extraction recoveries of tripdiolide ranged from 80.5 to 90.1%. This assay can be used to determine trace tripdiolide in human whole blood.