Determination of triethylenetetramine (TETA) and its metabolites in human plasma and urine by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)

A liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method has been developed to measure triethylenetetramine (TETA) and its metabolites in human samples. We identified two metabolites of TETA, N-1-acetyltriethylenetetramine (MAT) and N-1,N-10-diacetyltriethylenetetramine (DAT), the latter being novel. We further developed this LC-MS method for the measurement of TETA and these metabolites in human plasma and urine in a single injection. Separation of anallytes was achieved on a cyano column using 15% acetonitrile, 85% water (18 M Omega), and 0.1% heptafluorobutyric acid as the mobile phase. Simultaneous MS detection was performed at [M + H](+) values of 147, 189, 231 and 245, corresponding to TETA, MAT, DAT, and N-1-acetylspermine as the internal standard, respectively. This method was successfully applied to measure TETA, MAT and DAT in plasma and urine of humans receiving oral drug treatment. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.