Rapid Screening of Taxol Metabolites in Human Microsomes by Liquid Chromatography/ Electrospray Ionization-Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

Liquid chromatography with an electrospray ionization (ESI) interface has been applied to study the anticancer drug taxol and its metabolites after incubation with human hepatic microsomes. The parent drug and its metabolites were monitored in the positive-ionization mode. Since ESI gave only quasi-molecular ions for taxol and its analogues, collision-induced dissociation experiments were carried out in order to generate fragment ions, by increasing the cone voltage at the ESI source. The product-ion mass spectra of taxol and its metabolites contained diagnostic fragment ions, which enabled the presence of hydroxylated and deacetylated metabolites of taxol to be established.