title: Analysis of clenbuterol in human plasma using liquid chromatography/atmospheric-pressure chemical-ionization mass spectrometry.
abstract: Clenbuterol is a beta-agonist drug used illegally as a growth stimulant in meat-producing animals and human athletes. The analysis of clenbuterol in spiked human plasma was performed using on-line liquid chromatography/atmospheric-pressure chemical-ionization mass spectrometry (LC/APCI-MS) using a conventional bore LC column (flow rate = 1.0 mL/min). At low sampling cone voltages, the mass spectrum was predominantly the [M+H]+ ion but diagnostic fragment ions were formed upon incremental increases in sampling cone voltage. The detection limit (signal-to-noise ratio of 3) using selected-ion monitoring of the [M+H]+ ion was 0.1 ng on-column (10 ppb). This is a 50-fold better sensitivity of detection than that previously reported for an on-line thermospray LC/MS method. The extraction procedures were not optimized for maximum sensitivity and the lack of interferences suggests that much lower detection limits for clenbuterol in plasma are attainable.
authors.affiliation: National Center for Toxicological Research, Jefferson, AR 72079.
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Doerge
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bajic
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lowes
mesh_terms: D002976:Clenbuterol / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D002976:Clenbuterol