Quantitative determination of enzalutamide, an anti-prostate cancer drug, in rat plasma using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, and its application to a pharmacokinetic study

This report details a method using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) that allows one to determine the concentration of an atypical anticancer drug, enzalutamide, in rat plasma. Specifically, this method involves the addition of an acetonitrile and bicalutamide (internal standard) solution to plasma samples. Following centrifugation of this mixture, an aliquot of the supernatant was directly injected into the LC-MS/MS system. Separation was achieved using a column packed with octadecylsilica (5 µm, 2.1 × 50 mm) with 10 mM ammonium acetate in acetonitrile as the mobile phase; detection was accomplished using MS/MS by multiple-reaction monitoring via an electrospray ionization source. This method demonstrated a linear standard curve (r = 0.997) over a concentration range of 0.001-1 µg/mL, as well as an intra- and inter-assay precision of 2.7 and 5.1%, respectively, and an accuracy range from 100.8 to 105.6%. The lower limit of quantification was 1.0 ng/mL in 50 μL of rat plasma sample. We also demonstrated that this analytical method could be successfully applied to the pharmacokinetic study of enzalutamide in rats.