Development and Validation of a Robust LC-MS/MS Method for the Simultaneous Quantification of Doxifluridine and its Two Metabolites in Beagle Dog Plasma

A reverse-phase HPLC method with detection by mass spectrometry is described for the simultaneous determination of doxifluridine and its two active metabolites, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and 5-fluorouridine (5-FUrd), in beagle dog plasma. The optimal chromatographic separation was achieved on a Waters $Xterra^{(R)}$ $C_{18}$ column ($4.6{\times}250\;mm$ i.d., $5\;{\mu}m$ particle size) with a mobile phase of 0.1% formic acid in a mixture of 99% methanol and purified water (99:1, v/v). The developed method was validated in beagle dog plasma with a lowest limit of quantification of $0.05\;{\mu}g/mL$ for both doxifluridine and 5-FU, and $0.2\;{\mu}g/mL$ for 5-FUrd. Doxifluridine and its two metabolites were stable under the analysis conditions, and intra- and inter-day accuracies exceeded 92.87%, with a precision variability ${\leq}11.34%$ for each analyte. Additionally, the method for quantifying doxifluridine and its two metabolites, 5-FU and 5-FUrd, in beagle dog plasma was applied successfully to the analysis of pharmacokinetic samples.