Therapeutic gamma-hydroxybutyric acid monitoring in plasma and urine by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

A gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric (GC-MS) method for the determination of therapeutic levels of gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) in plasma and urine samples is described. GHB is converted to its lactonic form gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) which is extracted from biological fluids after the addition of the internal standard delta-valerolactone. Final GC-MS analysis is obtained under electron impact selected ion monitoring (SIM) conditions. Mean relative recoveries of GHB from plasma and urine are 75.5% (RSD% = 2.2) and 76.4% (RSD% = 2.4), respectively. The assay is linear over a plasma GHB range of 2-200 μg ml^-1 (r = 0.999) and a urine GHB range of 2-150 μg ml^-1 (r = 0.998). Intra- and inter-assay relative standard deviations (n = 5) determined at 10 and 100 μg ml^-1 are below 5%. The method is simple, specific and accurate, and may be applied for analytical purposes related to pharmacokinetic studies and therapeutic drug monitoring.