Simultaneous quantification of atorvastatin and active metabolites in human plasma by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry using rosuvastatin as internal standard

A simple, sensitive, selective and rapid liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC‐MS/MS) method was developed and validated for the quantification of atorvastatin and its active metabolites ortho‐hydroxyatorvastatin and para‐hydroxyatorvastatin in human plasma using rosuvastatin as internal standard (IS). Following simple liquid–liquid extraction, the analytes were separated using an isocratic mobile phase on a reversed‐phase C18 column and analyzed by MS in the multiple reaction monitoring mode using the respective [M+H]+ ions, m/z 559/440 for atorvastatin, m/z 575/466 for ortho‐hydroxyatorvastatin, m/z 575/440 for para‐hydroxyatorvastatin and m/z 482/258 for the IS. The assay exhibited a linear dynamic range of 0.1–20 ng/mL for atorvastatin and its two metabolites in human plasma. The lower limit of quantification was 100 pg/mL with a relative standard deviation of less than 8%. Acceptable precision and accuracy were obtained for concentrations over the standard curve range. The average absolute recoveries of atorvastatin, ortho‐hydroxyatorvastatin, para‐hydroxyatorvastatin and the IS from spiked plasma samples were 54.2 ± 3.2, 50.1 ± 3.8, 65.2 ± 3.6 and 71.7 ± 2.7%, respectively. A run time of 2.5 min for each sample made it possible to analyze more than 300 human plasma samples per day. The validated method has been successfully used to analyze human plasma samples for application in pharmacokinetic, bioavailability or bioequivalence studies. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.