Ultrafast determination of vitamin E using LC–ESI–MS/MS for preclinical development of new nutraceutical formulations

Abstract

Aim: We proposed a rapid and high quality method to determine α-tocopherol (α-T) in different biopharmaceutical samples using liquid chromatography-diode array detector on-line ESI–MS/MS. Materials & methods: A working standard solution of α-T and internal standard, phenyl-5,7-dimethyl-d6-α-tocopherol, were used for optimization and validation of the method. Levels of α-T in nanoemulsions, serum and plasma samples were evaluated. Results & conclusion: Precision (1% for retention time, 5% for peak area and 3% for relative peak area), linearity range (among 0.625–20.0 μg ml-1), LOD and LOQ, accuracy and matrix effect were studied. The validated chromatographic method is presented as valuable analytical tool for the determination of α-tocopherol in loaded drug delivery systems and in biodistribution levels in blood samples.