QuEChERS-Based Approach to the Extraction of Five Calcium Channel Blockers from Plasma Determined by UPLC-MS/MS

Abstract

Here, a QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe) pretreatment method was combined with UPLC-MS/MS to facilitate the rapid and reliable simultaneous detection of five calcium channel blockers (CCBs) in human plasma. For this approach, samples were treated with 1 mL of acetonitrile, 350 mg of magnesium sulfate, and 70 mg of PSA adsorbent prior to centrifugation. Supernatants then underwent gradient elution for 8 min with an Agilent C18 column using an acetonitrile-water solution supplemented with 5 mmol⋅L−1 of ammonium acetate. This technique exhibited a good linear response in the 1–800 ng⋅mL−1 range for the analyzed drugs, with an R2≥ 0.9921, an accuracy of 87.54–113.05%, a matrix effect (ME) of 91.21–116.39%, a precision of 0.19–11.64%, and stability of no more than 10.05%. This time-saving QuEChERS reagent-based pretreatment technique thus allowed for the simultaneous and accurate detection of five CCBs in human plasma samples, providing a promising new basis for therapeutic drug monitoring in patients with hypertension.