Analysis of Hypoglycemic Drugs by Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry

A rapid and simple method to measure oral hypoglycemic agents is essential in the evaluation of a patient with spontaneous hypoglycemia. As a result, a robust high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) method was developed for the qualitative detection of first-generation sulfonylureas (e.g., chlorpropamide, tolazamide, and tolbutamide), second-generation sulfonylureas (e.g., glimepiride, glipizide, and glyburide), meglitinides (e.g., repaglinide, nateglinide), and thiazolidinediones (e.g., rosiglitazone and pioglitazone). HPLC involved a C8 column and MS/MS was used in electrospray ionization (ESI) positive mode. Identification of all compounds was made using various multiple-reaction monitoring (MRMs). Isotopic labeled chlorpropamide-d4, glimepiride-d5, glyburide-d11, nateglinide-d5, repaglinide-ethyl-d5, rosiglitazone-d3, and zomepirac were used as the internal standards. The cutoffs for each drug were as follows: chlorpropamide 100 ng/mL, tolazamide 50 ng/mL, tolbutamide 20 ng/mL, glimepiride 20 ng/mL, glipizide 5 ng/mL, glyburide 5 ng/mL, repaglinide 5 ng/mL, rosiglitazone 20 ng/mL, pioglitazone 20 ng/mL, and nateglinide 5 ng/mL.