title: Analysis of cocaine/crack biomarkers in meconium by LC-MS.
abstract: Fetal exposure to illicit drugs is a worldwide problem, since many addicted women do not stop using it during pregnancy. Cocaine consumed in powdered (snorted or injected) or smoked (crack cocaine) form are harmful for the baby and its side effects are not completely known. Meconium, the first stool of a newborn, is a precious matrix usually discarded, that may contain amounts of substances consumed in the last two trimesters of pregnancy. Analyzing this biological matrix it is possible to detect the unaltered molecule of cocaine (COC) or its metabolite benzoylecgonine (BZE) and pyrolytic products anhydroecgonine methyl ester (AEME) and anhydroecgonine (AEC). A liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method was validated for meconium samples after solvent extraction, followed by direct injection of 10μL. Linearity covered a concentration range of 15 to 500ng/mg with a lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) of 15ng/mg for all analytes. Matrix effect was evaluated and showed adequate results. Detection of illicit substances usage can be crucial for the baby, since knowing that can help provide medical care as fast as possible. The method proved to be simple and fast, and was applied to 17 real meconium samples.
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Ipiranga 2752, 90610-000 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. Electronic address: felipebdavila@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Felipe Bianchini
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: D'Avila
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Ipiranga 2752, 90610-000 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Pâmela C Lukasewicz
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Ipiranga 2752, 90610-000 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fernanda Rodrigues
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Salazar
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Ipiranga 2752, 90610-000 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Andrea Garcia
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Ipiranga 2752, 90610-000 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Maíra Kerpel Dos
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Ramiro Barcelos, 2350, CEP 90035-003 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Flavio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pechansky
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Ipiranga 2752, 90610-000 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Renata Pereira
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Limberger
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Ipiranga 2752, 90610-000 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Pedro Eduardo
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Fröehlich
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D016578:Crack Cocaine / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D057230:Limit of Detection; D016014:Linear Models; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D008470:Meconium / Q000737:chemistry*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D016578:Crack Cocaine
keywords: Biomarkers; Cocaine/crack; HILIC column; LC-MS; Meconium