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Updated: Jun 24, 2026
Quantification of the Immunosuppressant Tacrolimus on Dried Blood Spots Using LC-MS/MS
Published on: November 8, 2015
A rapid HPLC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous quantification of cyclosporine A, tacrolimus, sirolimus and everolimus
Christoph Seger1, Karin Tentschert, Wolfgang Stöggl
1Division of Mass Spectrometry and Chromatography, Institute of Medical and Chemical Laboratory Diagnostics (ZIMCL), University Hospital Innsbruck, Anichstrasse 35, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria. christoph.seger@uki.at
Abstract:
In the past few years, high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) has matured to a true alternative to antibody-based immunoassays in routine therapeutic drug monitoring. In transplantation medicine, mass spectrometry-based assessment of immunosuppressant drug levels is considered a gold standard diagnostic procedure. We describe a fast state-of-the-art routine online solid-phase extraction (SPE) HPLC-MS/MS analysis platform that allows monitoring of cyclosporine A, tacrolimus, sirolimus and everolimus from 50-microl aliquots of EDTA whole blood specimens within 3.4 min total analysis time. Sample purification is done by offline protein precipitation followed by two automated chromatographic separation steps. Mass spectrometry-based analyte quantification relies on selected reaction monitoring experiments. The assay underwent complete validation and performance evaluation studies and performs very well in several international proficiency testing schemes. In daily routine, it allows reporting of about 75 patient sample results per work shift with a typical total individual sample turnaround time of less than 3 h.
