TY - JOUR
T1 - Rapid and simple procedure for the determination of cathinones, amphetamine-like stimulants and other new psychoactive substances in blood and urine by GC–MS
AU - Mercieca, Gilbert
AU - Odoardi, Sara
AU - Cassar, Marisa
AU - Strano Rossi, Sabina
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - In the last few years an increasing number of new psychoactive substances (NPS), with different chemical structures (of which 37% are stimulants), have been released into the illicit drug market. Their detection and identification in biological samples is hence of great concern. The aim of this work was to develop a high-throughput and rapid method for the determination of different classes of stimulants (amphetamine-type stimulants, cathinones, phenethylamines and ketamine analogues) from blood and urine samples using GC–MS. The proposed method allows the almost simultaneous derivatization and extraction of analytes from biological samples in a very short time, by using hexyl chloroformate as derivatization agent. The extraction of analytes was performed by Dispersive Liquid Liquid Microextraction (DLLME), a very rapid, cheap and efficient extraction technique that employs microliter amounts of organic solvents. The chromatographic method allowed for the separation of 26 stimulants including positional isomers (3-MMC and 4-MMC). The method was validated on urine and blood samples with the ability to detect and quantify all analytes with satisfactory limits of detection (LODs) ranging between 1 and 10 ng/mL, limits of quantification (LOQs) between 2 and 50 ng/mL, selectivity and linearity (5–1000 ng/mL). The method was then applied to real samples from forensic cases, demonstrating its suitability for the screening of a wide number of stimulants in biological specimens.
AB - In the last few years an increasing number of new psychoactive substances (NPS), with different chemical structures (of which 37% are stimulants), have been released into the illicit drug market. Their detection and identification in biological samples is hence of great concern. The aim of this work was to develop a high-throughput and rapid method for the determination of different classes of stimulants (amphetamine-type stimulants, cathinones, phenethylamines and ketamine analogues) from blood and urine samples using GC–MS. The proposed method allows the almost simultaneous derivatization and extraction of analytes from biological samples in a very short time, by using hexyl chloroformate as derivatization agent. The extraction of analytes was performed by Dispersive Liquid Liquid Microextraction (DLLME), a very rapid, cheap and efficient extraction technique that employs microliter amounts of organic solvents. The chromatographic method allowed for the separation of 26 stimulants including positional isomers (3-MMC and 4-MMC). The method was validated on urine and blood samples with the ability to detect and quantify all analytes with satisfactory limits of detection (LODs) ranging between 1 and 10 ng/mL, limits of quantification (LOQs) between 2 and 50 ng/mL, selectivity and linearity (5–1000 ng/mL). The method was then applied to real samples from forensic cases, demonstrating its suitability for the screening of a wide number of stimulants in biological specimens.
KW - Analytical Chemistry
KW - Biological samples
KW - Clinical Biochemistry
KW - Clinical toxicology
KW - Dispersive Liquid Liquid Microextraction
KW - Forensic toxicology
KW - Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry
KW - New psychoactive substances
KW - Pharmaceutical Science
KW - Spectroscopy
KW - Analytical Chemistry
KW - Biological samples
KW - Clinical Biochemistry
KW - Clinical toxicology
KW - Dispersive Liquid Liquid Microextraction
KW - Forensic toxicology
KW - Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry
KW - New psychoactive substances
KW - Pharmaceutical Science
KW - Spectroscopy
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10807/119454
UR - http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jpba
U2 - 10.1016/j.jpba.2017.11.024
DO - 10.1016/j.jpba.2017.11.024
M3 - Article
SN - 0731-7085
VL - 149
SP - 494
EP - 501
JO - Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis
JF - Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis
ER -