Biomedical chromatography : BMC | 2021
Simple extraction of toxicologically relevant psychotropic compounds and metabolites from whole blood using Mini-QuEChERS followed by UPLC-MS/MS analysis.
Abstract
The determination of psychotropic drugs and metabolites in blood is relevant both in context of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) and clinical and forensic toxicology. LC-MS/MS is a preferred method for these assays. However, LC-MS/MS is particularly subjected to matrix ionization effects and appropriate sample preparation is required to minimize these effects. In this study, a simple, single step, mini-QuEchERS extraction procedure, coupled to UPLC-MS/MS, was developed and validated for the determination of 15 toxicologically relevant compounds in whole blood, including psychoactive drugs and some metabolites. The assay was linear in the range of 25-1000 ng mL-1 , fulfilling criteria for accuracy and precision. Extraction yields (71.9-87.7%) and matrix effects (-3.3 to +4.4%, with the exception of codeine, which had matrix effects of -35.36 to -28.14%) were acceptable for the majority of the evaluated compounds, using a single internal standard. The assay was applied to 238 clinical specimens from patients admitted to an emergency service, with 22 samples presenting quantifiable concentrations of 11 different compounds. The developed assay is a simple and efficient strategy for determination of target psychotropic drugs and metabolites in forensic and clinical toxicology.