Determination of isofloxythepin in biological fluids by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

A method for the determination of isofloxythepin in biological fluids by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry is described. Isofloxythepin was readily converted into the trimethylsilyl ether by treatment with N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide. This derivative was separated on a 5% OV-101 column and determined, employing newly prepared isofloxythepin-d7 as an internal standard. Clean-up of isofloxythepin in blood and urine was efficiently achieved by back-extraction with hexane or hexane-toluene (9:1) under acidic and basic conditions, while isofloxythepin glucuronide in biological fluids was isolated by ion-exchange chromatography on Dowex 50W-X4 resin. The detection limit of isofloxythepin by this method was 50 pg. The blood and urine levels of isofloxythepin after oral administration of the drug to dogs were monitored by the proposed method.