Accelerator mass spectrometry measurement of intracellular concentrations of active drug metabolites in human target cells in vivo.

Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) is an ultrasensitive technique to detect radiolabeled compounds. We administered a microdose (100 µg) of (14)C-labeled zidovudine (ZDV) with or without a standard unlabeled dose (300 mg) to healthy volunteers. Intracellular ZDV-triphosphate (ZDV-TP) concentration was measured using AMS and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). AMS analysis yielded excellent concordance with LC/MS/MS and was 30,000-fold more sensitive. The kinetics of intracellular ZDV-TP formation changed several-fold over the dose range studied (100 µg-300 mg). AMS holds promise as a tool for quantifying intracellular drug metabolites and other biomediators in vivo.