Rapid and sensitive capillary electrophoresis method for the analysis of Ecstasy in an oral fluid

Abstract

In the present study, a capillary electrophoresis method, with a native fluorescence detection for the quantification of three amphetamine derivatives, methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA), methylenedioxyethylamphetamine (MDEA) in an oral fluid is described. The reported CE method has made it possible to assess Ecstasy abuse in approximately 15 min, including a saliva sample collection, pretreatment procedures and capillary electrophoresis (CE) analysis. The proof of the principle that was demonstrated on a home-made lab scale instrument has had the potential to be easily translated onto a truly portable instrument for on-site measurements. The baseline CE separation of the three illegal drugs was achieved in 10 min, by applying an aqueous background electrolyte (BGE) that was composed of 40 mM phosphoric acid and 10 mM triethanolamine. The amphetamine derivatives were detected at their λex/λem maximum (280/326 nm) with LOD values of about 3 ng/mL for each amphetamine. The recovery of the compounds from the collection pad was about 40% of the LOQ concentrations and the inter-day precision was less than 6% for all of the analytes. The procedure was applied to a quantitation of oral fluid (OF) samples that were collected during the Baltic Weekend Music Festival that was held in Estonia.