title: Simultaneous determination of three aconitum alkaloids in urine by LC-MS-MS.
abstract: A sensitive method has been developed for the identification and quantification of the toxic alkaloids yunaconitine, crassicauline A, and foresaconitine in urine specimens. After solid-phase extraction using Oasis MCX cartridges, the extracts were analyzed by LC-MS-MS. The limit of detection is 0.03 ng/mL urine for yunaconitine and 0.05 ng/mL urine for crassicauline A and foresaconitine; the limit of quantitation is 0.15 ng/mL urine for yunaconitine and 0.20 ng/mL urine for crassicauline A and foresaconitine. The method was employed in the analysis of the urine of a 55-year-old male who died after ingestion of herbal medicine powder made from the roots of aconite. Yunaconitine, crassicauline A and foresaconitine were identified in the urine. Crassicauline A and foresaconitine were thus identified in a biological specimen for the first time.
authors.affiliation: Forensic Science Institute of Public Security Ministry, Beijing 100038, PR China. Electronic address: wwwzhaohong@hotmail.com.
authors.lastname: ZhaohongWang
authors.affiliation: Forensic Science Institute of Public Security Ministry, Beijing 100038, PR China.
authors.forename: Zhiping
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Forensic Science Institute of Public Security Ministry, Beijing 100038, PR China.
authors.forename: Jiao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.affiliation: Forensic Science Institute of Public Security Ministry, Beijing 100038, PR China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: He
mesh_terms: D031841:Aconitum / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000506:poisoning; D000328:Adult; D000470:Alkaloids / Q000652:urine*; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010939:Plant Poisoning / Q000652:urine*; D012015:Reference Standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry
chemical_list: D000470:Alkaloids