Determination of acrylamide and glycidamide in various biological matrices by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and its application to a pharmacokinetic study

Acrylamide (AA) is a heat-generated food toxicant formed when starchy foods are fried or baked. This study describes a simple and sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry assay for the simultaneous quantification of AA and its active metabolite, glycidamide (GA) in rat plasma, urine, and 14 different tissues. The assay utilized a simple method of protein precipitation and achieved a lower limit of quantification of 5, 10 and 25 ng/mL of AA and 10, 20 and 100 ng/mL of GA for plasma, tissues and urine, respectively. The assay was fully validated to demonstrate the linearity, sensitivity, accuracy, precision, process recovery, and stability using matrix matched quality control samples. The mean intra- and inter-day assay accuracy was 91.6-110% for AA and 92.0-109% for GA, and the mean intra- and inter-day assay precisions were ≤10.9% for AA and ≤8.60% for GA. The developed method was successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study of AA and GA following intravenous and oral administration of AA in rats. Tissue distribution characteristics of AA and GA were also determined under steady-state conditions.