Determination of the anti-ulcer agent geranylgeranylacetone in serum by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

A highly specific and sensitive method for the determination of the anti-ulcer drug geranylgeranylacetone (GGA) in human serum is described. The extract from serum with hexane was saponified with potassium hydroxide and subjected to silica gel column chromatography to remove interfering substances. GGA in the partially purified extract was then reacted with O-(2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorobenzyl)hydroxylamine and measured by selected ion monitoring using gas chromatography--mass spectrometry. A low detection limit (1 ng/ml) and high precision were obtained.