Sensitive quantification of bulleyaconitine A in human serum by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

A simple and sensitive liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) method was developed and validated for the quantification of bulleyaconitine A (BLA) in human serum. Samples were extracted from human serum by protein precipitation. Domperidone was used as internal standard (I.S.). Chromatography separation was performed on a Waters Sunfire C18 column (2.1 x 50 mm, 5 microm) with a gradient mobile phase. Detection was performed in positive mode using multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) of the transition m/z 644.2>584.3 for BLA and m/z 426.3>175.3 for I.S. The proposed method was validated in a linear range of 0.0587-11.7 ng/ml. Intra- and inter-day precision was better than 9.88% and 7.76%. The recovery for BLA was 97.90%, and for I.S. 89.40%. This method provides a simple, rapid, specific, and sensitive tool for the quantitative determination of BLA in human serum, and can be used to monitor serum levels in patients treated with BLA.