Drugs in oral fluid: Part I. Validation of an analytical procedure for licit and illicit drugs in oral fluid

Abstract

A qualitative and quantitative analytical method was developed and validated for the determination of 49 licit and illicit drugs in oral fluid. Small oral fluid samples, volume 1 mL, were collected from volunteers using a modified Omni-Sal ® device and the analytes were extracted from an oral fluid/buffer mixture using a single Bond Elut Certify ® solid phase extraction cartridge. Liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS–MS) and gas chromatography–repetitive full scan mass spectrometry (GC–MS) were used in parallel to analyze the extracts for the targeted drugs. Extracts were analyzed by GC–MS in their underivatized form and as their pentafluoropropionyl derivatives. Deuterated internal standards were used for quantification of drugs of abuse by LC–MS–MS to minimize matrix effects. Methadone-d 9 and tumoxetine were used as the internal standards for quantification of non-derivatized and derivatized analytes respectively by GC–MS. Linearity was demonstrated over the range 5–200 ng/mL and limits of detection were less than 4 ng/mL for each drug analyzed. The method demonstrated acceptable recoveries for most of the analytes and good intra- and inter-day precision. Acquisition of data by repetitive full scan GC–MS allows the addition of further analytes to the target menu.