Enantioselective determination of lercanidipine in human plasma for pharmacokinetic studies by normal-phase liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

We describe here the first method for the enantioselective analysis of the calcium antagonist lercanidipine in human plasma by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) employing tandem mass spectrometric (MS) detection. Routine determination of lercanidipine enantiomers in human plasma in the working range of 0.025–50.0 ng ml−1 plasma for each enantiomer with an accuracy and precision less than 15% was possible. Application of the method to a stereospecific study of the pharmacokinetics showed that plasma levels after an oral dose of rac-lercanidipine administered to a healthy volunteer were found to be higher for the (S)-enantiomer.