Determination of Sertraline in Human Plasma by UPLC-MS/MS and its Application to a Pharmacokinetic Study

A sensitive and rapid ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS-MS) method was developed to determine sertraline in human plasma. Sample preparation was accomplished through a simple liquid-liquid extraction with ethyl acetate. Chromatographic separation was carried out on an Acquity UPLC BEH C18 column using a gradient mobile phase system composed of acetonitrile and 1% formic acid in water at a flow rate of 0.40 mL/min. Mass spectrometric analysis was performed using a XEVO TQD mass spectrometer coupled with an electrospray ionization source in the positive ion mode. The multiple reaction monitoring transitions of m/z 306.3 -> 275.2 and 326.2 -> 291.1 were used to quantify for sertraline and midazolam (internal standard), respectively. The linearity of this method was found to be within the concentration range of 1.0-100.0 ng/mL with a lower limit of quantification of 1.0 ng/mL. Only 2.0 min was needed for an analytical run. This fully validated method was successfully applied to the pharmacokinetic study after an oral administration of 100 mg sertraline to 20 Chinese healthy male volunteers.