Determination of two COX-2 inhibitors in serum and synovial fluid of patients with inflammatory arthritis by ultra performance liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy and quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

The determination of two sulphur-containing drugs, the COX-2 inhibitors celecoxib and etoricoxib, in the serum and synovial fluid of inflammatory arthritis patients, is described using a sensitive ultra performance liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (UPLC/ICPMS) method. Confirmation of the identity of the analytes in the samples was also performed by electrospray quadruple time-of-flight mass spectrometry in positive electrospray ionisation mode. The two COX-2 inhibitors were extracted from serum and synovial fluid following dilution with acetate buffer (pH 5) and liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) into ethyl acetate. Extracted samples were then analysed using UPLC/ICPMS with sulphur-specific detection. The limit of detection by UPLC/ICPMS was 0.45 ng/ml of sulphur in both serum and synovial fluid. The UPLC/ICPMS method was applied to the analysis of samples from patients receiving either 200 mg/day of celecoxib (2x 100 mg), 90 mg/day etoricoxib or placebo. The range of concentrations detected in the samples for the two drugs was from 0.3 to 3.3 microg/ml.