Determination of phenobarbital in hair matrix by liquid phase microextraction (LPME) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS)

Abstract

A method for identification and quantification of phenobarbital in hair samples by liquid phase microextraction (LPME) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) has been presented. Drug-free hair specimens were collected and separated in 50mg aliquots. Each aliquot was washed with 2.0mL of dichloromethane for 15min at 37°C. Standards and deuterated internal standards for calibration and quality control samples were added to the washed hair aliquot and the sample was submitted to complete digestion with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) 1.0mol/L for 15min at 70°C. The dissolved sample was submitted to LPME. After extraction, the residue was derivatized with tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) and analyzed by GC–MS. The limit of detection (LOD) was 0.1ng/mg and the limit of quantification (LOQ) was 0.25ng/mg. The calibration curve was linear over a concentration range of 0.25ng/mg to 10ng/mg (r2>0.99). The intra- and inter-assay precisions, given by RSD, were less than 6% for phenobarbital. Fortified samples of secobarbital and pentobarbital were also submitted to the validated method. The method was successfully applied to hair samples collected from three volunteers who reported regular use of phenobarbital (clinical treatment). The concentrations found were 9.5, 15.1 and 16.3ng/mg of phenobarbital. To contemplate the concentrations found, dilution integrity tests were also validated. The LPME and GC–MS method showed to be suitable for the detection of phenobarbital in hair samples and can be promptly used for different purposes whenever required.