Using ambient mass spectrometry and LC-MS/MS for the rapid detection and identification of multiple illicit street drugs

Chien-Hua Chiang; Hei-Hwa Lee; Bai-Hsiun Chen; Yi-Ching Lin; Yu-Ying Chao; Yeou-Lih Huang

doi:10.1016/j.jfda.2018.11.003

Using ambient mass spectrometry and LC-MS/MS for the rapid detection and identification of multiple illicit street drugs

J Food Drug Anal. 2019 Apr;27(2):439-450. doi: 10.1016/j.jfda.2018.11.003. Epub 2018 Dec 4.

Authors

Chien-Hua Chiang¹, Hei-Hwa Lee², Bai-Hsiun Chen², Yi-Ching Lin², Yu-Ying Chao³, Yeou-Lih Huang^{1

2

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, College of Health Sciences, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
² Department of Laboratory Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
³ Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
⁴ Department of Chemistry, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

Abstract

In this study the recently developed technique of thermal desorption electrospray ionization/mass spectrometry (TD-ESI/MS) was applied to the rapid analysis of multiple controlled substances. With the reallocation of mass spectral resources [from a standard ESI source coupled with liquid chromatography (LC) to an ambient TD-ESI source], this direct-analysis technique allows the identification of a wider range of illicit drugs through a dual-working mode (pretreatment-free qualitative screening/conventional quantitative confirmation). Through 60-MRM (multiple reaction monitoring) analysis-in which the MS/MS process was programmed to sequentially scan 60 precursor ion/product ion transitions and, thereby, identify 30 compounds (two precursor/product ion transitions per compound)-of a four-component (drug) standard, the signal intensity ratios of each drug transition were comparable with those obtained through 8-MRM analysis, demonstrating the selectivity of TD-ESI/MS for the detection of multiple drugs. The consecutive analyses of tablets containing different active components occurred with no cross-contamination or interference from sample to sample, demonstrating the reliability of the TD-ESI/MS technique for rapid sampling (two samples min^-1). The active ingredients in seized drug materials could be detected even when they represented less than 2 mg g^-1 of the total sample weight, demonstrating the sensitivity of TD-ESI/MS. Combining the ability to rapidly identify multiple drugs with the "plug-and-play" design of the interchangeable ion source, TD-ESI/MS has great potential for use as a pretreatment-free qualitative screening tool for laboratories currently using LC-MS/MS techniques to analyze illicit drugs.

Keywords: Ambient mass spectrometry; Illicit drug; Thermal desorption.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Chromatography, Liquid
Drug Contamination
Food Contamination / analysis*
Humans
Illicit Drugs / analysis*
Mass Spectrometry

Substances

Illicit Drugs

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan (grant MOST 105-2627-M-037-001); the Research Center for Environmental Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan (grant KMUTP105A18); and the Kaohsiung Medical University Research Foundation (grant KMU-M107007).