Development, validation and application of a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for quantifying lurasidone in dried blood spot samples.

Background: A liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for quantifying lurasidone in rat dried blood spot (DBS) samples was developed. Method: The analyte was extracted from DBSs using the liquid-liquid extraction method. Chromatographic separation was achieved using a C18, Phenomenex, 150 × 4.6 mm, 3.0 μm column. The mobile phase composed of methanol, acetonitrile and water (70:10:20 v/v/v) with 0.1% heptafluorobutyric acid performed well in terms of reducing the matrix effect and achieving shorter retention time. Result: The method was validated over a concentration range of 5.0 to 1200.0 ng/ml and supported by the evaluation of various validation parameters. Conclusion: This simple, sensitive and specific method proved to be a viable alternative sampling method with reduced logistics and blood sample storage expenses despite analytical challenges.