Simultaneous quantification of cefuroxime and clindamycin in human lumbar anulus fibrosus, nucleus pulposus and serum via UPLC-MS/MS

Abstract

BackgroundThis study aimed to develop a sensitive, accurate method for simultaneously quantifying cefuroxime and clindamycin in human serum, lumbar anulus fibrosus and nucleus pulposus. MethodsCefuroxime and clindamycin were quantified using ultra high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry in multiple-reaction-monitoring mode on a triple-quadrupole AB Qtrap 5500 system in positive ion mode. Internal standards were D3-cefuroxime and D3,13C-clindamycin. Samples were pretreated by precipitating total protein. ResultsThe method showed high sensitivity and good linearity over broad calibration ranges from 100 to 100 000 ng/mL for cefuroxime and 10 to 10 000 ng/mL for clindamycin in serum, and from 10 to 10 000 ng/mL for cefuroxime and 1 to 1 000 ng/mL for clindamycin in lumbar nucleus pulposus. In all sample types, correlation coefficients were greater than 0.99, intra- and inter-day precision (relative standard deviation) was less than 15%, and accuracy (relative error) was within 14% for both analytes. This method was effective at quantifying penetration of cefuroxime and clindamycin in patients undergoing oblique lumbar interbody fusion surgery. ConclusionsA very sensitive, specific method for simultaneous detection of cefuroxime and clindamycin has been developed for human lumbar anulus fibrosus, nucleus pulposus and serum samples.