title: Chiral separation and determination of R/S-methamphetamine and its metabolite R/S-amphetamine in urine using LC-MS/MS.
abstract: Methamphetamine (MA) and amphetamine (AM) are widely abused drugs. Differentiation of MA and/or AM abuse from therapeutic ingestion of MA and/or AM or one of their precursor drugs is therefore of relevance in clinical and forensic toxicology. The aim of the study was to develop a simple, rapid, and accurate method for the chiral separation and determination of R/S-MA and R/S-AM in urine using liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry operating in the positive ion multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. 20 μL of urine was diluted 500 times and 20 μL was injected. The chromatographic system consisted of a Chirobiotic™ V2 column (2.1 mm × 250 mm, 5 μm), and the mobile phase was methanol containing 0.1% (v/v) glacial acetic acid and 0.02% (v/v) ammonium hydroxide. The method was fully validated through assessments of its linearity (0.05-50.00 mg/L, r(2)>0.994 for all analytes), and LOQ (0.05 mg/L for all analytes). No matrix effect was observed. The method was successfully applied to 86 urine samples from suspected MA abusers. Only the S-isomers of MA and AM were detected in 72 samples. The concentrations of R-MA ranged from below the LOQ to 13.76 mg/L in 14 urine samples with both enantiomers of MA and/or AM. Pure S-MA is the most common found analyte in urine and principally used by abusers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, School of Pharmacy, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Wenhua Road 103, Shenyang 110016, China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Toxicology, Institute of Forensic Sciences, Ministry of Justice, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Guangfu Xi Road 1347, Shanghai 200063, China.
authors.forename: Baohua
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Toxicology, Institute of Forensic Sciences, Ministry of Justice, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Guangfu Xi Road 1347, Shanghai 200063, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Toxicology, Institute of Forensic Sciences, Ministry of Justice, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Guangfu Xi Road 1347, Shanghai 200063, China. Electronic address: xiangping2630@163.com.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, School of Pharmacy, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Wenhua Road 103, Shenyang 110016, China. Electronic address: zhiguo-yu@163.com.
authors.forename: Zhiguo
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000661:Amphetamine / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000652:urine*; D019969:Amphetamine-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000652:urine; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000652:urine*; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008694:Methamphetamine / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000652:urine*; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization / Q000379:methods; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D008694:Methamphetamine; D000661:Amphetamine
keywords: Chiral separation; LC–MS/MS; R/S-Amphetamine; R/S-Methamphetamine; Urine