Being regulated by agencies' guidances, the importance of a robust validated bioanalytical method is crucial as it may impact the validity of the pharmacokinetic data generated. During blood collection and processing, the presence of hemolyzed plasma samples may occur and as a result its impact must be investigated to ensure method robustness. Indeed, hemolyzed samples may affect the analyte recovery efficiency, as well as the chromatography. Furthermore, the stability of an analyte in hemolyzed plasma can be an issue as analyte degradation may occur. In this article we report two case studies where the analyte instability was a result of sample hemolysis. A description of the appropriate actions undertaken for the resolution of the issue will be discussed.

Thiorphan, the active metabolite of racecadotril, can undergo oxidation in biological matrices such as blood and plasma. In bioanalysis, a general approach for the stabilization of such a molecule is to derivatize the thiol group to a more stable thioether, often requiring complex handling procedures at the clinical site. In this research, the concept of dried blood spot (DBS) on-card derivatization was evaluated to stabilize thiorphan. DBS cards were in-house pre-treated with 2-bromo-3'-methoxyacetophenone and left to dry prior to blood spotting. Thiorphan was shown to be effectively derivatized to thiorphan-methoxyacetophenone once applied on the in-house pre-treated cards. Thiorphan-methoxyacetophenone was extracted by soaking a 6 mm DBS punch in methanol containing the internal standard (thiorphan-methoxyacetophenone-D₅). Chromatographic separation was achieved on a Waters XBridge C₁₈ column with a gradient elution of 5 mM NH₄HCO₃ and methanol in 2.5 min and detection by ESI(+)/MS/MS. A linear (weighted 1/x²) relationship was obtained over a concentration range of 5.00-600.00 ng/mL. The assay met regulatory guidelines acceptance criteria for sensitivity, selectivity, precision and accuracy, matrix effect, recovery, dilution integrity and multiple stability evaluations. The DBS on-card derivatization has shown to be an easy and reliable alternative form of sample collection for the quantification of thiorphan.

The quantification of tacrolimus in human whole blood was developed by LC-MS/MS for a range of 50.0 to 50,000.0 pg/ml. Different challenges were faced during method development due to ion-suppression, lack of sensitivity and low recovery. The optimization of the extraction procedure played a crucial role as tacrolimus had to be isolated from red blood cells, to which it is strongly bound. Another particular challenge arose from the freeze-thaw stability where the extracted samples from fresh blood always showed a lower recovery. Finally, matrix effect was observed in some matrices over time, which resulted in a failed long-term stability in whole blood. In order to resolve the matrix effect issue, the sample procedure had to be improved. The final assay showed good recovery, low matrix effect, linearity, blood stability and good precision and accuracy.

LC-MS/MS instruments are considered as the analytical technique of choice for bioanalytical assays. The LC-MS/MS technique acquired this status due to its robustness, specificity, sensitivity and good precision and accuracy. Nonetheless, with the use of these instruments, users also have to deal with some complex analytical problems such as carryover. Even if carryover is well known and widely discussed, it still remains a common issue in bioanalytical work. Although new autosampler instruments manufactured are specifically designed to fix the problem, the issue is still present because methods developed by the industry also change and evolve with the instrument. Requests for wider dynamic ranges and the use of a very sensitive detector that can reach very low LOQ are among the reasons. This article reviews the causes of carryover and proposes an autosampler needle seat backflush as a novel solution to address the issue.

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