Application of Bar Adsorptive Microextraction for the Determination of Levels of Tricyclic Antidepressants in Urine Samples

Abstract

This work entailed the development, optimization, validation, and application of a novel analytical approach, using the bar adsorptive microextraction technique (BAμE), for the determination of the six most common tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs; amitriptyline, mianserin, trimipramine, imipramine, mirtazapine and dosulepin) in urine matrices. To achieve this goal, we employed, for the first time, new generation microextraction devices coated with convenient sorbent phases, polymers and novel activated carbons prepared from biomaterial waste, in combination with large-volume-injection gas chromatography-mass spectrometry operating in selected-ion monitoring mode (LVI-GC-MS(SIM)). Preliminary assays on sorbent coatings, showed that the polymeric phases present a much more effective performance, as the tested biosorbents exhibited low efficiency for application in microextraction techniques. By using BAμE coated with C18 polymer, under optimized experimental conditions, the detection limits achieved for the six TCAs ranged from 0.2 to 1.6 μg L−1 and, weighted linear regressions resulted in remarkable linearity (r2 > 0.9960) between 10.0 and 1000.0 μg L−1. The developed analytical methodology (BAμE(C18)/LVI-GC-MS(SIM)) provided suitable matrix effects (90.2–112.9%, RSD ≤ 13.9%), high recovery yields (92.3–111.5%, RSD ≤ 12.3%) and a remarkable overall process efficiency (ranging from 84.9% to 124.3%, RSD ≤ 13.9%). The developed and validated methodology was successfully applied for screening the six TCAs in real urine matrices. The proposed analytical methodology proved to be an eco-user-friendly approach to monitor trace levels of TCAs in complex urine matrices and an outstanding analytical alternative in comparison with other microextraction-based techniques.

Recent Advances in Analytical Techniques for Antidepressants Determination in Complex Biological Matrices: A Review

“…Protein precipitation, 26,48,58,59 LLE, 15,25,29,41,46,53,60 SPE, 12,17,[20][21][22][23]28,32,34,36,42,51,56,59,62,64 and some miniaturized techniques-such as SPME, 33 MEPS, 30,50,54 DLLME, 14 AA-DLLME, 27 BAμE, 24 and LPME 13 are the most utilized procedures for extracting antidepressants from the biological samples.…”

“…As mentioned above, biospecimens where antidepressants are usually detected include urine, 24,51,53-55,61,64,65 whole blood, 11,17,22,23,29,31,35,36,39,41,57,58 dried blood spots, 11,32 plasma, 23,26,28,48,48,60,63 serum, 23,40,46,50,63,65 hair, 44,51 OF, 30,62,67 pericardial fluid, 14 bone marrow, 33,52,66 bones, 21,25,34,47,59 brain tissue, 36 intraosseous fluid, 26 meconium, 56 and VH 12,13 with each matrix requiring specific treatment depending on the type of antidepressant under investigation.…”

“…The majority of these techniques rely on LC approaches, utilizing MS/MS detection modes, 60,62,63 TOF/ MS, 33,52 and U(H)PLC with MS/MS. 29,46,47,51,61 Additionally, several studies employed GC coupled to MS detection [12][13][14]20,22,[24][25][26]34,62 or tandem MS detection modes. [15][16][17]19 Most frequently, these methods have shown low detection limits, selectivity, sensitivity, and acceptable results, enabling precise quantification of ADs.…”

“…Oliveira et al (2021) 24 developed, validated, and applied a method, combining the bar adsorptive microextraction technique (BAμE) with large-volume-injection gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (LVI-GC-MS) operating in the selected-ion monitoring (SIM) mode, for determining the 6 most common TCAs (dosulepin, mirtazapine, imipramine, trimipramine, mianserin, and amitriptyline) in urine specimens. The developed method (BAμE(C18)/LVI-GC-MS(SIM)) provided suitable matrix effects between 90.2 and 112.9% (RSD ≤ 13.9%), good recovery yields (ranging from 92.3 and 111.5%, RSD ≤ 12.3%), and a remarkable overall process efficiency (ranging from 84.9% to 124.3%, RSD ≤ 13.9%).…”

Simple Analytical Strategy for Screening Three Synthetic Cathinones (α-PVT, α-PVP, and MDPV) in Oral Fluids

“…Nowadays, the most popular miniaturized sorption-based extraction methods are solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) [19]. However, other static microextraction techniques such as bar adsorptive microextraction (BAµE) have already proven to be suitable for the trace analysis of polar to non-polar analytes in aqueous media, including the analysis of legal and illegal drugs in several types of biological matrices [20][21][22][23][24]. It must be emphasized that although SCs suffer partial thermal degradation during GC-MS analysis [25,26], it is pertinent to develop methodologies without derivatization since they provide more comprehensive and faster results.…”