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High-Throughput Screening of Drugs of Abuse in Urine by Supported Liquid–Liquid Extraction and UHPLC Coupled to Tandem MS

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Abstract

A qualitative method, involving supported liquid–liquid extraction (SLE) and ultra high pressure liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS–MS), was developed for the rapid tentative identification of various drugs of abuse in urine. In this study, 28 drugs and metabolites were covered by the screening procedure. Before analysis, urine samples were extracted by SLE and good extraction recoveries were obtained for most investigated compounds. The UHPLC strategy was then selected for the rapid separation of amphetamines, cocaine, opiates and related compounds in urine. Using columns packed with sub-2 µm particles, analysis time was reduced down to 2 min, while maintaining acceptable performance. Finally, the detection was by tandem MS operating in the single reaction monitoring (SRM) mode. The most intense transition was selected for the different drugs and SRM dwell times set at 5 ms, to maintain sufficient data points across the narrow UHPLC peaks. The tentative identification of the drugs of interest, including amphetamines, opiates and cocaine, was based on both, retention times and mass spectrometry information. With the proposed method, limits of detection were estimated at about 1 ng mL−1 and the applicability was assessed by successfully analyzing several samples of drug abusers. Finally, this study demonstrates the potential of UHPLC coupled to tandem MS for the rapid screening of drugs of abuse in urine.

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Acknowledgments

The authors whish to thank Dr. Marc Fathi from HUG (Geneva University Hospitals, Switzerland) for providing urine samples from drug abusers and blank urine samples from healthy volunteers.

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Author notes

  1. Aubert Maquille

    Present address: Laboratory of Chemical and Physico-Chemical Analysis of Drugs (CHAM), Louvain Drug Research Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain, Avenue E. Mounier, 72, bte 72.30, 1200, Brussels, Belgium

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Geneva, University of Lausanne, Boulevard d’Yvoy 20, 1211, Geneva 4, Switzerland

    Aubert Maquille, Davy Guillarme, Serge Rudaz & Jean-Luc Veuthey

Authors
  1. Aubert Maquille
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  2. Davy Guillarme
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  3. Serge Rudaz
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  4. Jean-Luc Veuthey
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jean-Luc Veuthey.

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Maquille, A., Guillarme, D., Rudaz, S. et al. High-Throughput Screening of Drugs of Abuse in Urine by Supported Liquid–Liquid Extraction and UHPLC Coupled to Tandem MS. Chroma 70, 1373–1380 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1365/s10337-009-1337-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1365/s10337-009-1337-z

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