Abstract
A sensitive method for quantification of pinaverium bromide in human plasma was established using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry(LC-ESI-MS/MS). Glimepiride was used as internal standard. Pinaverium bromide and internal standard in plasma sample were extracted using tert-butylmethylether(TBME). A centrifuged upper layer was then evaporated and reconstituted with mobile phase of acetonitrile-5 mM ammonium formate (80/20, pH 3.0). The reconstituted samples were injected into a $C_{18}$ reversed-phase column. Using MS/MS with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode, pinaverium and glimepirde were detected without severe interference from human plasma matrix. Pinaverium produced a protonated precursor ion $([M+H]^+)$ at m/z 510.3 and a corresponding product ion at m/z 228.9. Internal standard produced a protonated precursor ion $([M+H]^+)$ at m/z 491.5 and a corresponding product ion at m/z 352.0. Detection of pinaverium bromide in human plasma was accurate and precise, with limit of quantitation at 0.5 ng/ml. The method has been successfully applied to bioavailability study of pinaverium bromide tablet in Korean healthy male volunteers. Pharmacokinetic parameters such as $AUC_t,\;C_{max},\;T_{max},\;K_{el}\;and\;t_{1/2}$ were calculated.
