A High-Performance Liquid Chromatographic-Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Ionization-Tandem Mass Spectrometric Method for Determination of Risperidone and 9-Hydroxyrisperidone in Human Plasma

Risperidone, a benzisoxazole derivative, is an antipsychotic agent used for the treatment of schizophrenia. We developed a liquid chromatographic-atmospheric pressure chemical ionization-tandem mass spectrometric (LC-APCI-MS-MS) method with improved sensitivity, selectivity, and dynamic range for determination of risperidone and 9-hydroxyrisperidone in human plasma. A structural analogue of risperidone, RO68808 (5 ng/mL), is added as the internal standard to 1 mL of human plasma. Plasma is made basic, extracted with pentane/methylene chloride (3:1), the organic phase evaporated to dryness, and the residue is reconstituted in water with 0.1% formic acid/acetonitrile (20:1). For LC-MS-MS analysis, a Metachem Inertsel HPLC column (2.1 x 150 mm, 5-μm particle size) is connected to a Finnigan TSQ7000 tandem MS via the Finnigan API interface. Both electrospray (ESI) and APCI produced predominantly MH + ions for the two analytes and the internal standard. Ions detected by selected reaction monitoring correspond to the following transitions: m/z 411 to 191 for risperidone, m/z 427 to 207 for 9-hydroxyrisperidone, and m/z 421 to 201 for the internal standard. APCI provided a larger dynamic range (0.1 to 25 ng/mL) and better precision and accuracy than ESI. Intrarun accuracy and precision determined at 0.1, 0.25, 2.5, and 15 ng/mL were within 12% of target with %CVs not exceeding 10.9%. Interrun accuracy and precision determined at the same concentrations were within 9.6% of target with %CVs not exceeding 6.7%. Analytes were stable in plasma after 24 h at room temperature, 2 freeze-thaw cycles, and 490 days at -20°C.