Determination of alpha-solanine, alpha-chaconine and solanidine in plasma and urine by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry

Abstract

An ultra-performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was developed for the determination of alpha-solanine, alpha-chaconine and solanidine in plasma and urine. The sample was acidified with aqueous solution containing 2% (v/v if not specified) formic acid, and then cleaned-up by solid-phase extraction with a mixed-mode cation exchange (MCX) cartridge. The analysis of the glycoalkaloids was carried out on an Acquity UPLC BEH C18 column (50 mm x 2.1 mm, 1.7 microm) with gradient elution of acetonitrile (containing 0.1% formic acid) and H2O (containing 0.05% formic acid and 5.0 mmol/L ammonium acetate). The analytes were detected by positive electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry in MRM mode, and quantified by external matrix-matched standard calibration. The cycle time of each analysis was 5.5 min. The calibration curves were linear in the range of 0.3-100 ng/mL of the glycoalkaloids in plasma and urine. The correlation coefficients were 0.997-0.999. The limits of detection (S/N = 3) and quantitation (S/N = 10) were 0.1 ng/mL and 0.3 ng/mL. The average recoveries were 82%-112% and 96%-114% for the glycoalkaloids spiked in plasma and urine, respectively, with relative standard deviations of 4.0%-16% and 2.7%-17% (n = 6). The method is simple, accurate and sensitive to detect the glycoalkaloids in plasma and urine for both clinical and forensic purposes.