A novel quantitative method for the determination of 10B-carrier boronophenylalanine in rat plasma by UHPLC-MS/MS and comparison with ICP-MS

L-Boronophenylalanine (BPA), a widely used 10 B carrier for clinical boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT), was quantified in rat plasma through a simple, effective and stable ultra-high performance liquid chromatography- tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) method. Chromatographic separation was performed on an ACQUITY UPLC HSS T3 (100 mm x 2.1 mm, 1.8 mu m) column with the mobile phase of 0.5 % formic acid aqueous solution and acetonitrile. For the detector, the m/z ion pairs used for quantification were 209.1-*120.1 for BPA and 210.1-*120.1 for internal standard in a positive mode by electrospray ionization (ESI) using multiple reaction monitoring (MRM). The method is specific and robust with rare affection by endogenous substances in the matrix. A good linear relationship was observed over 80-80000 ng/mL (r2 = 0.9993). The values of inter- and intra-day accuracy and precision were within the acceptance criteria of +/- 15 %. BPA was found to be stable under different experimental conditions. This developed method was successfully applied on a pharmacokinetic experiment on Sprague-Dawley rats (intravenous injection, 125 mg/kg) and a comparation between UHPLC-MS/ MS and ICP-MS for BPA was carried out.