Development and Validation of an HPLC-MSMS Method for Rapid Simultaneous Determination of Cefprozil Diastereomers in Human Plasma

Abstract EN

Background.

Both cis- and trans-cefprozil have antimicrobial activity, but their potencies are quite different.

It is therefore necessary to develop a sensitive method to simultaneously determine both isomers for pharmacokinetic and bioequivalence studies.

Methods.

An LC-MS/MS method, using stable isotope-labeled cefprozil as the internal standard, was developed and validated.

The analytes were extracted from plasma by protein precipitation and separated on a reverse-phase C18 column using a gradient program consisting of 0.5% formic acid and acetonitrile within 4 min.

The mass spectrometry acquisition was performed with multiple reaction monitoring in positive ion mode using the respective [M+H]+ ions, m/z 391.2→114.0 for cefprozil and 395.0→114.5 for cefprozil-D4.

Results.

The calibration curves were linear over the ranges of 0.025–15 μg/mL for cis-cefprozil and 0.014–1.67 μg/mL for trans-cefprozil.

The accuracies for the cis and trans isomers of cefprozil were 93.1% and 103.0%, respectively.

The intra- and interassay precisions for the QC samples of the isomers were < 14.3%.

The intra- and interassay precisions at the LLOQ were < 16.5%.

Conclusions.

The method was sensitive and reproducible and was applied in a pilot pharmacokinetic study of healthy volunteers.