Abstract
A cleanup method employing quick and simple solid-phase dispersive extraction (SPDE) was investigated for its potential use in the determination of vancomycin (VCM) in serum by liquid chromatography/mass-spectrometry (LC/MS). SPDE was observed to be more rapid than conventional cartridge-type solid-phase extraction (SPE). In addition, in the analysis of viscous samples such as serum containing many proteins, SPDE could satisfactorily remove proteins even if deproteinization was not performed beforehand. The limit of detection (S/N = 3) and the limit of quantification (S/N > 10) of VCM by LC/MS were 0.05 and 0.2 ng/mL, respectively. The average recoveries of VCM from pooled serum spiked at 2, 10, and 100 ng/mL were 90.0, 90.8, and 98.6%, respectively. The repeatabilities were 7.5, 6.8, and 2.8%, and the intermediate precision values were 8.5, 6.8, and 7.0%, respectively. This suggests that the developed analytical method combing SPDE is useful for the determination of VCM in serum.
