A rapid and sensitive LC/MS/MS assay for the quantitation of brimonidine in ocular fluids and tissues

J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci. 2009 Jan 15;877(3):107-14. doi: 10.1016/j.jchromb.2008.11.009. Epub 2008 Nov 13.

Abstract

We report here the development and validation of an LC/MS/MS method for the rapid and accurate quantitation of brimonidine in ocular tissues and fluids using brimonidine-d(4) as an internal standard (IS). Brimonidine was extracted from retina, iris/ciliary body, and vitreous humor samples with an acetonitrile:water (1:1) solution followed by sonication and vortexing. Aliquots of aqueous humor, iris/ciliary body, retina, and vitreous humor samples were diluted with acetonitrile containing IS and were separated on a reverse-phase HPLC column under isocratic conditions. Brimonidine (m/z transition: 292-->212) and the internal standard (m/z transition: 296-->216) were analyzed via multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) in the positive electrospray mode on a 4000 Q TRAP instrument. The total analysis time for each sample was less than 2.0 min. The calibration curves for brimonidine (1-1000 ng/mL) were constructed using a linear regression with 1/x(2) weighing. The lower limit of quantitation for brimonidine was 1.0 ng/mL for aqueous humor, 10 ng/g for iris/ciliary body, 12.5 ng/g for retina, and 1.6 ng/g for vitreous humor. Intra-day and inter-day estimates of accuracy and precision were within 15% of their nominal values indicating that the method is reliable for quantitation of brimonidine in ocular tissues and fluids.

MeSH terms

  • Adrenergic alpha-Agonists / analysis*
  • Animals
  • Aqueous Humor / chemistry
  • Brimonidine Tartrate
  • Chromatography, Liquid / methods*
  • Ciliary Body / chemistry
  • Drug Stability
  • Eye / chemistry*
  • Iris / chemistry
  • Linear Models
  • Quinoxalines / analysis*
  • Rabbits
  • Reference Standards
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Retina / chemistry
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Tandem Mass Spectrometry / methods*
  • Vitreous Body / chemistry

Substances

  • Adrenergic alpha-Agonists
  • Quinoxalines
  • Brimonidine Tartrate