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Online SPE UPLC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous determination of 33 psychoactive drugs from swab-collected human oral fluid samples

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Abstract

Oral fluid is easy and safe to collect and allows the detection of drugs of abuse after local exposure by oral, smoked, and/or inhaled intake, or systemic exposure. A routine online solid-phase extraction UPLC-MS/MS method was developed for the simultaneous determination of 33 psychoactive drugs in oral fluid. The selected drugs were fourteen fentanyl analogs and nineteen other abused psychoactive compounds, including classical narcotics, which were analyzed in a run of 10 min. Limits of detection and of quantification ranged from 0.02 to 1 ng/mL and from 0.02 to 5 ng/mL depending on the analyte, respectively. Matrix effect was in the range − 17 to + 15.7% for all analytes having a deuterated analog. Accuracy ranged from 82.7 to 113.4% and precision CV was at worst of 18.6%. Carryover was below 0.8% for all analytes. Recovery from FLOQSwabs™ showed high variability between analytes with THC, D2FF, 4-ANPP, ocfentanil, and valerylfentanyl being recovered below 40%. A stability study performed over 2 weeks on collecting devices loaded with artificial oral fluid showed huge variation between analytes with morphine, BZE, and norfentanyl being the more stable. Storage at 4 °C allowed drug detection for 1 week except for THC and remifentanil. The method was successfully applied to the detection of abused psychoactive compounds in oral fluid samples from 6 patients admitted to an addiction department.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de Pharmacologie Clinique et Toxicologie, Université de Lorraine, CHRU-Nancy, 54500, Vandœuvre, France

    Benoit Mercier, Julien Scala-Bertola, Elise Pape, Allan Kolodziej, Valérie Gibaja, Jean-Yves Jouzeau & Nicolas Gambier

  2. Université de Lorraine, CNRS, IMoPA, 54505, Vandœuvre, France

    Julien Scala-Bertola, Elise Pape, Jean-Yves Jouzeau & Nicolas Gambier

  3. Centre Psychothérapique de Nancy, Département d’Addictologie, Pôle Hospitalo-Universitaire du Grand Nancy, 54520, Laxou, France

    Michael Bisch

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  1. Benoit Mercier
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  2. Julien Scala-Bertola
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  3. Elise Pape
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  4. Allan Kolodziej
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  5. Valérie Gibaja
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Correspondence to Nicolas Gambier.

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In accordance with local ethical standards, informed consent was obtained from each patient for sample collection and data publication. Oral fluid and urine samples were anonymized. All samples were destroyed after analysis.

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Mercier, B., Scala-Bertola, J., Pape, E. et al. Online SPE UPLC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous determination of 33 psychoactive drugs from swab-collected human oral fluid samples. Anal Bioanal Chem 414, 4203–4215 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-022-04073-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-022-04073-9

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