Validation of a multi-analyte LC–MS/MS method for screening and quantification of 87 psychoactive drugs and their metabolites in hair

Abstract

A multi-analyte method for the detection and quantification of 87 psychoactive drugs (antidepressants, antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, and z-drugs) in human hair has been developed and fully validated using the liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry system. Due to the remarkable increase in requests of hair sample tests (such as for driver's license renewals, child custody, DFA cases, and postmortem toxicology), we focused on the development of a rapid sample preparation. About 20mg of hair samples, previously washed and cut into snippets, was ultrasonicated with 700μl of methanol. Samples were then directly analyzed using a 4000 QTRAP (AB SCIEX, Foster City, CA, USA) with an electrospray ionization (ESI) Turbo V(TM) Ion Source. The validation criteria parameters were satisfactory and in accordance with the international guidelines. All the compounds tested were successfully detected. One important aspect is the LODs in the low picogram per milligram concentration which may suggest a potential use of this method in cases of detection of single drug exposure. However, the LC-MS/MS method has been successfully applied for the analysis of postmortem cases (n = 9).