Highly sensitive quantitative analysis of budesonide from plasma using LC/MS/MS

Budesonide is a glucocorticoid used in the management of asthma, treatment of various skin disorders, and allergic rhinitis. Budesonide is provided as a mixture of two epimers (22R and 22S). Interestingly, the 22R form is two times more active than the 22S epimer. The two forms do not interconvert.

Inflammation is an important component in the pathogenesis of asthma. Corticosteroids like budesonide have been shown to have a wide range of inhibitory activities against multiple cell types (e.g., mast cells, eosinophils, neutrophils, macrophages, and lymphocytes) and mediators (e.g., histamine, eicosanoids, leukotrienes, and cytokines) involved in allergic and non-allergic-mediated inflammation. These anti-inflammatory actions of budesonide contribute to their efficacy in the aforementioned diseases. Budesonide undergoes significant first-pass elimination and its bioavailability is 10 %, which demands its low level quantitation in plasma for bioanalysis. Budesonide is formulated as an extended release tablet and inhalers.

Here, an LC/MS/MS method has been developed for highly sensitive quantitation of budesonide from plasma using LCMS-8060, a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer from Shimadzu Corporation, Japan.