Determination of Milnacipran in Human Plasma Using GC-MS

A new, simple, and fully validated gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method was presented for quantitative analysis of milnacipran (MNP) in human plasma. MNP was efficiently derivatized with N-methyl-N-trimethylsilyltrifluoroacetamide (MSTFA) before analysis. The role of catalyst, temperature, time, solvent on the trimethylsilylation reaction were evaluated. The proposed method was fully validated by assessment of the following parameters: limits of detection and quantitation, precision, accuracy, linearity, specificity, stability, extraction recovery and robustness/ruggedness. The limit of quantitation (LOQ) was 30 ng mL(-1). The calibration curve was linear (r (2) > 0.9988) in the range 30-500 ng mL(-1). The method was found specific, precise, accurate, selective and reliable according to validation data. This developed method was successfully applied to determine the steady state concentration of MNP in patients.