Determination of clindamycin in animal plasma by high‐performance liquid chromatography combined with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

A method for the quantification of clindamycin in animal plasma using high‐performance liquid chromatography combined with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC/ESI‐MS/MS) is presented. Lincomycin is used as the internal standard. The sample preparation includes a simple deproteinization step with trichloroacetic acid. Chromatographic separation is achieved on an RP‐18 Hypersil column using gradient elution with 0.01 M ammonium acetate and acetonitrile as mobile phase. Good linearity was observed in the range 0–10 µg ml −1 . The limit of quantification of the method is 50 ng ml −1 and the limit of detection is 1.3 ng ml −1 . The method was shown out to be of use for pharmacokinetic studies of clindamycin formulations in dogs. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.