A comprehensive LC-MS-based quantitative analysis of fentanyl-like drugs in plasma and urine

✍ Scribed by Sarah Cooreman; Christa Deprez; Frank Martens; Jan Van Bocxlaer; Kathleen Croes

• Book ID: 102441693
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 214 KB
• Volume: 33
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1615-9306
• DOI: 10.1002/jssc.201000330

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Fentanyl, norfentanyl, alfentanil, sufentanil, remifentanil and 3‐methylfentanyl are potent, short‐acting, synthetic narcotic analgesics that are not revealed in standard opiate immunoassays. In this article, a fully validated analytical method for the determination of these fentanyl‐type compounds in plasma and urine is presented, consisting of a liquid–liquid extraction followed by a LC‐MS/MS analysis using electrospray ionisation in the positive ionisation mode. Fentanyl‐d~5~ and norfentanyl‐d~5~ were used as internal standards. The lower LOQ in plasma and urine was 0.1 ng/mL for fentanyl, norfentanyl, alfentanil, remifentanil and 3‐methylfentanyl, and 0.2 ng/mL for sufentanil. The method proved linear over a concentration range of 0.2–50 ng/mL for sufentanil and 0.1–50 ng/mL for all other analytes, with correlation coefficients of 0.998 or better. The analytical procedure showed excellent selectivity and precision (all CVs below 15%) for all analytes. Accuracy was good, except for sufentanil, where deviations of more than 15% from nominal concentrations were observed. No matrix effects were observed, and stability of stock and internal standard solutions was within acceptability limits.