Simultaneous quantification of beclomethasone dipropionate and its metabolite, beclomethasone 17-monopropionate in rat and human plasma and different rat tissues by liquid chromatography–positive electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

A sensitive, rapid and selective liquid chromatography–positive electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC–(ESI+)-MS–MS) method has been developed and validated for the simultaneous quantification of beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP) and its active metabolite, beclomethasone 17-monopropionate (17-BMP) in rat plasma and different tissues using fluticasone propionate (FP) as the internal standard. The method was validated over a linear range from 0.05 to 5 ng/ml for both analytes. A solid-phase extraction procedure was used for plasma samples and a liquid–liquid extraction procedure for tissues samples (lung, liver and kidney). The between-day and within-day coefficients of variation for all compounds were ≤20% at the concentrations of lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) and ≤15% at other quality control concentrations. The same method was also partially validated for human plasma. The utility of this assay was demonstrated by monitoring BDP and 17-BMP plasma and tissue concentrations in an animal study designed for evaluation of pulmonary targeting after intratracheal administration of BDP dry powder.