Abstract
With the increasing need for reliable and comprehensive pharmacokinetic data from diverse nonclinical as well as clinical studies, a sensitive and specific bioanalytical technique is essential. Such a technique is liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). This article provides a brief overview of the key developments in LC-MS and focuses on the more recent LC-MS ionisation/interfacing technique, that of atmospheric pressure ionisation (API). The advantages of LC-API-MS/MS for routine bioanalysis, in terms of sensitivity, specificity and reproducibility are discussed. Recent scientific literature is cited that exemplifies the capabilities, applications and usefulness of this powerful analytical technique in pharmacokinetics/toxicokinetics studies.
