LC-ESI MS/MS quantification of atropine and six other antimuscarinic tropane alkaloids in plasma

We have developed and validated a quantitative liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI MS/MS) procedure for the simultaneous determination of seven natural and semisynthetic tropane alkaloids in plasma: atropine (d-hyoscyamine/l-hyoscyamine), cocaine, homatropine, ipratropium, littorine, N-butylscopolamine, and scopolamine. Plasma and serum samples were precipitated for deproteinization (recovery 88-94%), followed by reversed-phase-based liquid chromatography prior to positive electrospray ionization for detection by multiple reaction monitoring using a linear ion trap quadrupole mass spectrometer. All analytes were quantified using cocaine-d3 as an internal standard suitable and reliable for robust, precise (coefficient of variation 2-13%), and accurate (87-122%) measurement within a linear range of 3 orders of magnitude (0.05-50 ng/ml plasma). The method was exemplarily applied to stability studies in phosphate-buffered saline, human serum, and rabbit serum. Each alkaloid was incubated separately and samples were taken at distinct incubation time points. Supernatants of diverse alkaloids at corresponding time points were pooled and subjected to simultaneous LC-ESI MS/MS quantification. This combinatorial analysis design allowed us to analyze the stability of samples with a drastically reduced number of chromatographic runs. In the presence of rabbit serum, all tropane alkaloids tested were degraded significantly within minutes to hours, with the exception of the stable semisynthetic compounds ipratropium and N-butylscopolamine. In contrast, in the presence of equal concentrations of human serum, no degradation was observed for any of the compounds, with the exception of cocaine. Relevant enzymes involved in enzymatic degradation are discussed.