Simultaneous determination of L-arginine and its mono- and dimethylated metabolites in human plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

A simple, fast, sensitive, and reproducible isocratic liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method coupled with an atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) interface for simultaneous separation and determination Of L-arginine (ARG) and its methylated metabolites, N-monomethyl-L-arginine (MMA), N-G,N-G-dimethylarginine (asymmetric dimethyl arginine, ADMA), and N-G,N'(G)-dimethylarginine (symmetric dimethyl arginine, SDMA), in human plasma is presented. Sample pretreatment is not required other than deproteinization with 5-sulfosalicylic acid (5-SSA). Satisfactory chromatographic separation was achieved on a 2.0x150-mm Shimadzu VP-ODS column by using a mobile phase consisting of water/acetonitrile (90/10, v/v) containing 0.5% trifluoroacetic acid (TFA). Positive selective ion monitoring (SIM) mode was chosen for quantification of each analyte. The positively protonated molecular ions [M + H](+) of ARG, MMA, ADMA, and SDMA were monitored at m/z 175, 189, 203, and 203, respectively. L-Homoarginine was used as the internal standard (IS) for the assay. The limits of quantification (LOQs) were found to be 1.0 mumol L-1 for ARG, and 0.2 mumol L-1 for MMA, ADMA, and SDMA. The inter-assay precision and accuracy were in the range of 1.8-4.9% and -3.0-5.0%, respectively. The intra-assay precision and accuracy were in the order of 1.7-4.6 and -2.6-4.0%, respectively. The recoveries were between 90.0 and 106.6%. The levels of ARG, MMA, ADMA, and SDMA in human plasma were also determined using the developed method.