Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry for quantitative determination of beta-blocker drugs in one-drop of human serum sample

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) has been applied for the quantitative determination of beta-blocker drugs in one-drop of human serum samples using drop-to-drop solvent microextraction (DDSME) as a preconcentrating probe. The optimum experimental conditions for beta-blocker drugs were investigated and 1.8 mu L volume of toluene for 10 min extraction time with the 5% addition of NaCl under pH 11.0 was found to be the best conditions for the separation and preconcentration of drugs from 30 mu L of serum sample from a patient with high blood pressure. The optimized methodologies for DDSME/MALDI-MS analyses exhibited a good linearity with intra- and inter day precision value of 8.5-10.5% and 9.4-12.6%, respectively. The proposed DDSME/MALDI-MS offers a very simple, rapid and low-cost technique for the determination of beta-blocker drugs in one drop of serum sample. The reported method has been successfully applied for the determination of propranolol and nadolol in small volume of serum sample from patient suffering from high blood pressure. In future, this technique could be applied for pharmacokinetic and clinical studies. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.