Determination of glimepiride in human plasma by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

A sensitive method for quantitation of glimepiride in human plasma has been established using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI/MS/MS). Glipizide was used as an internal standard. Glimepiride and internal standard in plasma sample was extracted using diethyl etherethyl acetate (1 : 1). A centrifuged upper layer was then evaporated and reconstituted with the mobile phase of acetonitrile-5 mM ammonium acetate (60:40, pH 3.0). The reconstituted samples were injected into a C-18 reversed-phase column. Using MS/MS in the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode, glimepiride and glipizide were detected without severe interference from human plasma matrix. Glimepiride produced a protonated precursor ion ([M+H](+)) at m/z 491 and a corresponding product ion at m/z 352. And the internal standard produced a protonated precursor ion ([M+H](+)) at m/z 446 and a corresponding product ion at m/z 321. Detection of glimepiride in human plasma by the LC-ESI/MS/MS method was accurate and precise with a quantitation limit of 0.1 ng/mL. The validation, reproducibility, stability, and recovery of the method were evaluated. The method has been successfully applied to pharmacokinetic studies of glimepiride in human plasma.