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Updated: Jun 14, 2026
Quantification of the Immunosuppressant Tacrolimus on Dried Blood Spots Using LC-MS/MS
Published on: November 8, 2015
Multi-center evaluation of a commercial Kit for tacrolimus determination by LC/MS/MS
Kimberly L Napoli1, Catherine Hammett-Stabler, Paul J Taylor
1Division of Immunology and Organ Transplantation, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
Objectives:
A multi-center evaluation (3 sites) of the LC/MS/MS MassTrak tacrolimus Immunosuppressants Kit (Kit) was undertaken.
Design And Methods:
Ten aspects of the analytical performance of the Kit were investigated based on FDA and CLSI guidelines.
Results:
The linear analytical range of the procedure was between 0.68 and 31.7ng/mL. Within-run and total imprecision were <6% and <8% (n=240), respectively. Recoveries of tacrolimus added to clinical samples that contained between 5 and 10ng/mL of tacrolimus before addition were 99, 102 and 105% at 5.0, 10 and 20ng/mL, respectively. Comparison of in-house and Kit procedures in samples from liver (n=50-58) or kidney (n=50 or 51) transplant recipients yielded method mean biases between -2.0 and +10.7% at 5 and 15ng/mL.
Conclusions:
This evaluation indicates that the Kit is suitable for the monitoring of tacrolimus in kidney and liver transplant recipients.
