A Novel Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry Technique using Multi-Period-Multi-Experiment of MRM-EPI-MRM3 with Library Matching for Simultaneous Determination of Amphetamine Type Stimulants Related Drugs in Whole Blood, Urine and Dried Blood Stain (DBS)-Application to Forensic Toxicology Cases in Malaysia

J Anal Toxicol. 2019 Aug 23;43(7):528-535. doi: 10.1093/jat/bkz017.

Abstract

A novel mass spectrometry detection technique based on a multi-period and multi- experiment (MRM-EPI-MRM3) with library matching in a single run for fast and rapid screening and identification of amphetamine type stimulants (ATS) related drugs in whole blood, urine and dried blood stain was developed and validated. The ATS-related drugs analyzed in this study include ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, MDMA (3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine), MDA (3,4-Methylenedioxyamphetamine), MDEA (3,4-Methylenedioxy-N-ethylamphetamine) and phentermine. The relative standard deviation for inter and intraday was less than 15% while recoveries ranged from 80% to 120% for all three matrices, i.e., whole blood, urine and dried blood stain. All compounds gave library matching percentage of more than 85% based on the purity. This method was proven to be simple and robust, and provide high confident results complemented with library matching confirmation.

Keywords: ATS-related drugs; LC-MS/MS; MRM-EPI-MRM3; dried blood stain sample; urine sample; whole blood sample.

MeSH terms

  • Amphetamine* / blood
  • Amphetamine* / urine
  • Blood Stains*
  • Central Nervous System Stimulants* / blood
  • Central Nervous System Stimulants* / urine
  • Chromatography, Liquid
  • Forensic Toxicology / instrumentation
  • Forensic Toxicology / methods*
  • Humans
  • Limit of Detection
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Substance Abuse Detection / instrumentation
  • Substance Abuse Detection / methods*
  • Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Substances

  • Central Nervous System Stimulants
  • Amphetamine