Rapid screening of drugs of abuse and their metabolites by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry: application to urinalysis

Abstract

This paper describes a rapid gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric (GC/MS) screening method for the detection of drugs of abuse and/or their metabolites in urine. Synthetic stimulants, opiates, cocaine metabolites, cannabinoids--and specifically the acid metabolite of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-COOH)--can be simultaneously extracted by a single liquid/liquid separation step, at alkaline pH, and assayed as trimethylsilyl derivatives by GC/MS in SIM (selected ion monitoring) mode. All the analytes show a good linearity (R2 > 0.99 for most of the considered substances) in the range 25-1000 ng/mL, with a good reproducibility of both the retention times (CV% <0.7) and the relative abundances of the characteristic diagnostic ions (CV% <13). The limit of detection (LOD) of the method is 25 ng/mL of target compound in human urine for most of the substances investigated, 3 ng/mL for THC-COOH, and 10 ng/mL for norbuprenorphine. Validation of the method allows its application to different fields of forensic analytical toxicology, including antidoping analysis.

Mass spectrometry in sports drug testing: Structure characterization and analytical assays

“…In addition, classical experiments employing colorimetric determinations of amphetamines were used (Richter, 1938;Keller & Ellenbogen, 1952) but suffered from interferences in biological matrices, until a first procedure was established based on liquid-liquid extraction, paper chromatography, and visualization (Vidic, 1955). Subsequently, more comprehensive and sensitive procedures based on GC interfaced to NPD were established (Donike, 1970;Donike et al, 1970), and with the use of MS screening and confirmation methods gained even more specificity and are still employed in sports drug testing (Solans et al, 1995;Hemmersbach & de la Torre, 1996;Kraemer & Maurer, 1998;Peters et al, 2003;Kankaanpää et al, 2004;Strano-Rossi, Molaioni, & Botre, 2005a;Strano-Rossi et al, 2005). Usually, administered and unchanged drugs are extracted from urine specimens by means of ether under alkaline conditions, and aliquots are analyzed for stimulating agents using GC-MS(/NPD).…”

Marijuana Intoxication Presenting as Seizure - Comment

“…This drug has been reported to cause shaking. 12,13 It is noteworthy that the prior report of cerebellar infarction in 3 patients that was attributed to marijuana use did not include toxicology beyond radioimmunoassay of abusable substances, salicylates, acetaminophen, and tricyclic antidepressants. 11 One could speculate on the presence of other substances, including hallucinogens, substituted amphetamines, botanicals, and so on.…”

Gas chromatography‐mass spectrometric method for the screening and quantification of illicit drugs and their metabolites in human urine using solid‐phase extraction and trimethylsilyl derivatization

“…Urine tests for amphetamine‐type stimulants (ATSs), cannabinoids, opiates, COC and its metabolites, benzodiazepines, and barbiturates are usually preformed by immunological methods for screening followed by GC‐MS for confirmation in forensic toxicology 8–10. Screening analysis by immunological methods can give results in a few minutes, but suffers from the disadvantages of high costs of reagents, limitation of applicable drugs and low reliability.…”

“…Screening analysis by immunological methods can give results in a few minutes, but suffers from the disadvantages of high costs of reagents, limitation of applicable drugs and low reliability. Analytical methods have been published for screening or quantification by GC‐MS, LC‐MS or LC‐MS‐MS for ATSs, cannabinoids, opiates, COC and its metabolites, benzodiazepines, and ephedrines in urine, blood, oral fluid, and hair 9–21. Although LC‐MS is becoming a better analytical tool than GC‐MS because of its ability to support non‐derivatization analysis of polar or hydrophilic compounds, GC‐MS analysis remains preferred in toxicological analyses because of its low analysis cost and greater applicability in routine analyses 11.…”