Quantitative analysis of S3341 in human plasma and urine by combined gas chromatography-negative ion chemical ionization mass spectrometry: 15 month inter-day precision and accuracy validation.

A new quantitative assay for the determination of S3341, an alpha-2 agonist antihypertensive drug, has been developed using combined gas chromatography-negative ion chemical ionization mass spectrometry. The [M]-. ions from TFA derivatives of S3341 (m/z 276) and the internal standard (2H4)S3341 (m/z 280) are monitored simultaneously by selected ion monitoring. For S3341 concentrations ranging from the limit of detection (0.2 ng ml-1 using 1 ml of plasma) to 5 ng ml-1, the average assay precision (CV) is approximately 7% while the average assay accuracy (percentage of error) is 4%. Validation of the day-to-day precision and accuracy was realized after analysing control plasma samples (n = 295) concurrently with the biological samples collected during the pharmacokinetic studies conducted over 15 months. The average day-to-day precision (CV) and accuracy (percentage of error) are 10% and 6% respectively, thus indicating that this assay procedure routinely provides reliable analytical data.