Determination of modafinil in rat plasma by UPLC-MS/MS and a study of its pharmacokinetics and bioavailability

Modafinil has a strong and long-lasting awakening effect. Short-term use can improve cognitive and work efficiency. Therefore, it has been known to be abused by students and parents as a “smart drug.” It is in the first category of psychotropic drugs and strictly controlled. To detect modafinil in rat plasma and study the differences in the pharmacokinetics of modafinil between oral and sublingual administration in rats, an ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was developed. Rats were injected with modafinil by oral gavage and sublingual vein, respectively, blood was collected within a certain period, and the plasma was obtained by centrifugation. Midazolam was used as the internal standard, and the concentration of modafinil in the plasma was determined by UPLC-MS/MS, where a drug-time curve was created to calculate the pharmacokinetic parameters. The standard curve for modafinil ranged from 1 to 2000 ng mL−1 with good linearity. The intra-day accuracy of modafinil was between 86% and 104%, and the intra-day accuracy was between 90% and 103%. Intra-day precision (RSD%) was less than 15%, inter-day precision (RSD%) was less than 15%. The matrix effect was between 93% and 102%, and the recovery was greater than 91%. The UPLC-MS/MS method established in this work has good selectivity and high sensitivity, and the UPLC-MS/MS method was successfully applied to the pharmacokinetics of modafinil by oral gavage and sublingual injection in rats. The bioavailability of modafinil was calculated to be 55.8%.