Fast Quantitative LC-MS/MS Determination of Illicit Substances in Solid and Liquid Unknown Seized Samples

Abstract

Narcotic and psychotropic substances are natural, synthetic, or semisynthetic compounds that are present in both solid and liquid illicit products. The alterations effects on the central nervous system related to their use can be psycholeptic, psychoanaleptic, or psychodiseptic and are able to generate tolerance, addiction, or dependence phenomena, creating social and public order problems. In this scenario, the analytical evaluations that aim to determine these analytes in seized nonbiological samples, and which assume the character of judicial evidence, must meet high analytical requirements of reliability, transparency, and procedures uniformity at a national level. For the first time in the literature, the herein validated method is able to provide the simultaneous quantitative determination of 37 of the most common narcotic substances as well as the most commonly used excipients/adulterants found in seized illicit material. Additionally, the validated method can process both solid and liquid samples maintaining the precision and trueness levels (intraday and interday) in accordance with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency international guidelines (<14.31 and <13.41%, respectively). Furthermore, it provides a simple and fast procedure for sample preparation using the dilute and shoot approach, exploiting the sensitivity and selectivity of the LC-MS/MS instrument configuration used and the signal acquisition in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode (both positive and negative polarization modes).

Analytical techniques for screening of cannabis and derivatives from human hair specimens

“…Furthermore, the validated technique can process both solid and liquid samples while retaining the precision and trueness levels (intra-day and inter-day) in compliance with the international requirements set forth by the European Medicines Agency and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (14.31 and 13.41% respectively). 96 In 2021, Merone et al claimed to use a quick screening method called LC-MS/MS (liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry) to evaluate 739 chemicals in biological samples (blood, post-mortem blood, and urine) on a qualitative level. 697 distinct transitions for the chemicals undergoing screening are used by the device in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode.…”

“…Furthermore, the validated technique can process both solid and liquid samples while retaining the precision and trueness levels (intra-day and inter-day) in compliance with the international requirements set forth by the European Medicines Agency and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (14.31 and 13.41% respectively). 96…”

Green fitted second derivative synchronous spectrofluorometric method for simultaneous determination of remdesivir and apixaban at Nano gram scale in the spiked human plasma

“…The development of quantitative analytical methods with more sensitive detection limits and selective targeting for compounds of interest is a major goal for analytical chemists. In particular, the determination of drugs down to the Nano- gram range represents a potential approach for determination of drugs in biological fluids [1] , [2] , [3] . In addition, analytical chemists have recently devoted themselves to making analytical methods more environmentally friendly and safer for humans by using solvents and chemicals with low environmental impact, low energy consumption, and lower waste generation [4] , [5] , [6] , [7] .…”

Recent Advances in the Development of Portable Electrochemical Sensors for Controlled Substances

“…Although the workhorse and gold standard of forensic drug analysis, gas chromatography in tandem with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ], produces reliable results, highly trained personnel are needed to operate the often bulky and expensive instruments that are connected with (helium) gas cylinders and vacuum pumps, making them not suitable for field operations, especially high-throughput field operations. High-performance liquid chromatography coupled with (tandem) mass spectrometers (LC-MS or LC-MS/MS) can be quite useful [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ], although they are not portable either. Hand-held spectrometers, including portable Raman spectrometers, have been used for field operations [ 24 , 25 , 26 ].…”