title: Determination of benzodiazepines in urine via benzophenone derivatives using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.
abstract: The aim of this study was to validate a new method for determining benzodiazepines in urine via their benzophenone derivatives, based on liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Selected benzodiazepines were analysed after acid hydrolysis of urine and extraction by ethyl acetate in the presence of an internal standard. Samples were analysed using electrospray ionization LC-MS/MS in a multiple reaction monitoring mode. The chromatographic run time on a reversed phase C18 analytical column was set for 9 min. This method was validated in 21 patients receiving methadone. Benzodiazepines intake was established in two out of three patients. LC-MS/MS results were also compared with the rapid immunoassay and the methods showed good agreement. However, in three cases benzodiazepines were detected by LC-MS/MS, but not by the immunoassay. The sensitivity of the developed LC-MS/MS method is comparable to or even higher than of previously reported methods, which makes it suitable as a confirmatory method.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ljubljana, Aškerčeva 7, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Roškar
authors.forename: Marija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sollner Dolenc
mesh_terms: D001569:Benzodiazepines / Q000652:urine*; D001577:Benzophenones / Q000652:urine; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000652:urine*; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry
chemical_list: D001577:Benzophenones; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D001569:Benzodiazepines; C047723:benzophenone