AN LC-MS/MS BASED BIOANALYTICAL APPROACH TO RESOLVE PHARMACOKINETIC INVESTIGATION OF ACOTIAMIDE HYDROCHLORIDE AND ITS APPLICATION TO BIOEQUIVALENCE STUDY

Objective: Acotiamide, a prokinetic drug used to treat Functional Dyspepsia, which acts by modulating gastric motility. However, in this present study, a simple and accurate bioanalytical method was developed for the estimation of Acotiamide in human plasma using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and validated according to US-FDA guideline. Methods: The method was developed in blank human blood plasma; propranolol was used as internal standard (IS). Protein Precipitation technique was followed for the extraction of the drug from the plasma sample. In liquid chromatography, the C18 analytical column (50 x 3 mm, particle size-5 μm) was used; as a mobile phase, 0.1% formic acid in Mili Q water, and ACN with methanol (1:1) used, at 0.50 ml/min flow rate. Detection was done by positive electrospray ionization (ESI) with a run time of 7 min in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. Eight calibration concentrations were taken, ranging from 1.5625-200 ng/ml for Acotiamide. Different stability studies were performed and obtained results found within the acceptable range. Moreover, a comparative pharmacokinetic analysis was done in 24 healthy human volunteers in a single dose, randomized, crossover study. Results: The precursor to production reaction was; m/z 451.200 → 271.200 for Acotiamide and m/z 260.300 → 116.100 m/z for IS. The obtained calibration curve was linear, with a mean r2value 0.9953. Among the pharmacokinetic parameters, Cmax and Tmax were 25.71±2.31,23.61±2.32 ng/ml; 2.54±0.12, 2.43±0.21 h for reference and test samples, respectively. Conclusion: No major adverse events were noted in the clinical phase, the developed method was accurate and linear; obtained pharmacokinetic parameters hence represented.