A compact liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry instrument for the quantitation of immunosuppressants

Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) plays an important role in clinical diagnostics. Although LC-MS/MS is superior in terms of accurately quantifying molecules in complex matrices, instrument footprint, operation and maintenance complexity also hinder its expansion as the analytical technique of choice. In this study, a compact LC-MS instrument was developed, in which an assembled liquid chromatograph was coupled with a miniature ion trap mass spectrometer. The overall instrument has a footprint of 69 cm × 31 cm × 31 cm, and it requires no gas supply as well as minimum maintenance. Furthermore, the use of LC-MS is in accord with conventional clinical diagnostic protocols, and the choice of ion trap offers tandem MS performance. The results showed that the use of LC could improve both mixture analysis capability and detection sensitivity of the miniature mass spectrometer. After optimization, feasibility of this instrument in clinical practice was demonstrated by the quantitation of four widely used immunosuppressants in blood samples. Relatively good linearities were obtained, which spanned the reference ranges of effective therapeutic concentrations of each immunosuppressant. Intra-day and inter-day accuracy and precision of analytical method were also assessed. This work showed that a compact LC-MS instrument could be used in clinical diagnosis, either to replace conventional lab-scale instruments or to be used in POCT applications.