P45: Rapid analysis of synthetic cannabinoids in urine using solid phase extraction and LC-MS/MS

Abstract

Introduction Synthetic cannabinoids are widely abused designer drugs that are illegal in many European countries and in the United States. Due to the wide spread use of these illegal narcotics, it is important for drug testing laboratories to have a sensitive and selective way of monitoring these compounds. Therefore, routine synthetic cannabinoids testing typically utilizes solid phase extraction (SPE) of a patient's urine sample followed by HPLC/MS/MS analysis. Methods The presented SPE method uses a cation-exchange sorbent to remove the majority of matrix impurities present in urine. The SPE protocol requires 1 mL of patient urine. The urine sample is first hydrolyzed with β-glucuronidase before being loaded onto the SPE cartridge. The cartridge is then washed in two steps before elution resulting in a clean extract ready for LC/MS/MS analysis. The reversed phase LC/MS/MS method uses a high-efficiency core-shell HPLC stationary phase. The HPLC is coupled with an API 4000 massspectrometer (ABSciex) operated in mrm mode using positivemode electrospray ionization. Resultats The SPE method obtains recoveries ranging from 60-104% with % CV values ranging from 1.6% to 13.2%. The LC/MS/MS method resolves all critical isomers with an analysis time of less than 10 minutes. The isomeric resolution is possible due to the very narrow peaks obtained with the high-efficiency core-shell HPLC media. Conclusion Using cation-exchange SPE cleanup in conjunction with LC/MS/MS analysis with core-shell HPLC media is a fast and effective way of analyzing synthetic cannabinoids in urine.