Rapid and Sensitive UPLC-MS-MS for the Determination of Trimetazidine in Human Plasma

A specific and sensitive UPLC-MS-MS was developed for the determination of trimetazidine in human plasma. The sample preparation was based on a single-step liquid-liquid extraction with acetic ether. The chromatographic separation was on a C₁₈ analytical column (50 mm × 2.1 mm, 1.7 μm) with acetonitrile and 10 mM ammonium acetate (30:70, v/v) as the mobile phase, and a triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer equipped with an electrospray ionization source (ESI) applied for detection. The method was linear over the concentration ranges of 0.25-100.00 ng mL⁻¹ for trimetazidine, and the lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) was 0.25 ng mL⁻¹. The intra- and inter-day relative standard deviation (RSD) were less than 15% and the relative error (RE) were all within 15%. Finally, this method has been successfully applied to analyze plasma samples from a bioequivalence study with 18 volunteers.