Rosuvastatin is an important treatment to prevent recurrent myocardial infarction (MI) in survivor patients. Rosuvastatin is a chemically synthesized statin that selectively, reversibly, and competitively inhibits the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase. Rosuvastatin is hydrophilic and has the highest affinity for the enzyme's active site among all statins, four times greater than that of HMG-CoA. The studies have shown changes in the pharmacokinetics of rosuvastatin in cases of severe kidney and liver impairments, as well as when used in combination with other medications. Changes in pharmacokinetics due to MI and alterations in the functioning of the myocardium, along with potential complications, have also been demonstrated with other medications for preventing cardiovascular diseases such as atenolol and digoxin.
To support a pharmacogenetic study at the University Medical Centre Ljubljana (approval of National Medical Ethics Committee nr. 0120-124/2023/7), we aimed to develop a precise, accurate, sensitive, and selective method for measuring rosuvastatin concentrations in real plasma samples from MI patients. We attempted three different sample preparation methods: liquid-liquid extraction, supported liquid extraction, and solid-phase extraction. Method based on liquid-liquid extraction with tert-butyl methyl ether and isopropyl alcohol in a ratio of 9:1, with subsequent quantification by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was validated.
We evaluated the developed method in accordance with the EMA and FDA guidelines. Accuracy, repeatability, and selectivity were confirmed in the concentration range between 0.3 ng/mL and 50 ng/mL. The sample preparation efficiency was over 60 % for both low and high-quality control samples. A more significant background impact can be expected at very low analyte concentrations, but such low concentrations (below 0.5 ng/mL) are not expected in patient samples. The potential presence of lipid particles and blood in plasma will also not affect the relative background impact.
The suitability of the method was confirmed on 84 samples from a clinical study. All samples were within a specific concentration range between 1.1 and 37.3 ng/mL with a relative standard deviation of 78%. The average plasma concentration of rosuvastatin was 12.06 ng/mL.
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