Development of High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) Method of Lincomycin Applicable for Pharmacokinetic Analysis in Olive Flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus)

Lincomycin is a drug known to be effective in treating streptococcus aureus as it inhibits the protein synthesis by binding to 50S ribosomal subunits. However, in the test method registered in Korean Food Code the Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) is set to be 0.1 mg/kg regardless of the kinds or body areas of fishes. In addition, only analysis using high performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) was presented, so we developed analytical methods to detect trace concentrations of serum and muscle in the olive flounder using HPLC-MS/MS. The analyte was quantified in the positive ion mode using multiple reaction monitoring (MRM). Samples were extracted with methanol and then Hydrphilic-Liphophilic Balance (HLB) was used for purification. Matrix-matched calibration (MMC) presented linearity with the correlation coefficient (r²)>0.99, analyzed at 0.5~50 ng/g concentration. The limit of quantitation (LOQ) of muscle was 0.5 ng/g and recovery was 89.33%(n=9, Intra-day). The LOQ of serum was 0.5 ng/g and recovery was 97.40%(n=9, Intra-day) which were suitable for CODEX guideline. This analysis would be appropriate for the study of lincomycin residues and pharmacokinetics in olive flounder.