Development and validation of an ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric method for the determination of 25 psychoactive drugs in cerumen and its application to real postmortem samples.

Orthodoxia Mastrogianni, Amvrosios Orfanidis, Evdokia Brousa, Dimitrios-Phaedon Kevrekidis, Heleni Zagelidou, Nikolaos Raikos

Forensic toxicology 2023 Jan

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In the present study, a method for the detection of 25 psychoactive substances in cerumen was developed and validated. This method targets opiates, cocaine, antidepressants, benzodiazepines, antipsychotics and antiparkinsons. Analysis was performed on a SCIEX Triple Quad 6500+ system after liquid-liquid extraction. Methanol with 1% acetic acid was chosen as the extraction solvent. After the addition of the solvent, samples were vortexed, sonicated, centrifuged and directly injected into the liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry system. The method was found to be selective and sensitive (limit of detection: 0.017 ng-0.33 ng/mg), the assay was linear for all analytes with linear regression coefficient ranging 0.9911-1.00. The values for intra-assay precision was between 4.34 and 14.6% and inter-assay precision between 5.81 and 17.7%, with accuracy within the acceptable criteria for all analytes. All analytes in cerumen specimens were stable for 48 h at 4 °C and 72 h at - 20 °C, whilst no significant matrix effect or carryover was observed. Applicability was proven by analyzing cerumen samples from 25 deceased with a history of drug abuse. All analytes were detected in real samples, thus confirming the sensitivity of the developed method. According to our knowledge, it is the first time that a method for the simultaneous detection of 25 psychoactive drugs in cerumen was developed, fully validated and finally applied to 25 postmortem samples. © 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Japanese Association of Forensic Toxicology.

Citation

Orthodoxia Mastrogianni, Amvrosios Orfanidis, Evdokia Brousa, Dimitrios-Phaedon Kevrekidis, Heleni Zagelidou, Nikolaos Raikos. Development and validation of an ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric method for the determination of 25 psychoactive drugs in cerumen and its application to real postmortem samples. Forensic toxicology. 2023 Jan;41(1):94-104