Simultaneous identification of abused drugs, benzodiazepines, and new psychoactive substances in urine by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.
A literature search reveals no studies concerning simultaneous identification of commonly abused drugs, benzodiazepines, and new psychoactive substances in urine by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). We developed and validated an LC-MS/MS method for simultaneous identification of multiple abused drugs, benzodiazepines, and new psychoactive substances in urine from suspected drug abusers. The instrument was operated in multiple-reaction monitoring using an electrospray ionization mode. Chromatograms were separated using an ACE5 C18 column on a gradient of acetonitrile. After liquid-liquid extraction, samples were passed through a 0.22-μm polyvinylidene difluoride filter before injection into the LC-MS/MS. The limits of quantitation ranged from 0.5 ng/mL to 31.3 ng/mL. The linearity ranged from 0.5 ng/mL to 200 ng/mL. The precision results were below 15.4% (intraday) and 18.7% (interday). The intraday accuracy ranged from 85.9% to 121.0%; interday accuracy ranged from 66.1% to 128.7%. The proposed method was applied to 769 urine samples. The most common three drugs identified were ketamine, amphetamine, and opiates. The drug positive rate for one or more drugs was 79.6%. Our results demonstrate the suitability of the LC-MS/MS method for simultaneous identification of multiple abused drugs, benzodiazepines, and new psychoactive substances in urine.
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Hei-Hwa
HH
Lee
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Jong-Feng
JF
Lee
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Shin-Yu
SY
Lin
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Electronic address: d670014@kmu.edu.tw.
Bai-Hsiun
BH
Chen
D001569:Benzodiazepines / Q000652:urine*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000652:urine*; D007118:Immunoassay; D057230:Limit of Detection; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000652:urine*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*
D013287:Illicit Drugs; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs; D001569:Benzodiazepines
Benzodiazepines; Drug abuse; LC–MS/MS; New psychoactive substances