Antidepressants In Urine Research Articles

Brewer’s spent grain as a potential sorbent for toxicology methods: Application to antidepressant analysis in urine

The use of antidepressants is well-documented for several health conditions. The determination of these drugs in biological fluids is often important in intoxication cases. However, appropriate sample preparation needs to be employed, such as dispersive liquid phase microextraction (DSPME). Therefore, this study aimed to develop a method for the determination of antidepressants in urine using Brewer’s spent grain (BSG) as sorbent in a DSPME procedure, followed by GC-MS analysis. In this methodology, only 500 µL of urine was required, alongside 15 mg of BSG as the sorbent for the DSPME technique. Desorption step was performed with 500 µL of ethyl acetate:MTBE solution (1:1, v/v), followed by evaporation of the organic layer, reconstitution in acetonitrile and injection into the analytical system. BSG was further characterized by several analytical techniques. The DSPME procedure was optimized using multivariate strategies, and the method was fully validated according to proper guidelines. Lower limits of quantitation (LLOQ) were set between 50 and 200 ng/mL, while linearity was achieved over the specified range of LLOQ to 5000 ng/mL, with R2 ≥ 0.99. Additionally, the method was applied to the analyses of 109 urine samples. Of these, 76 were positive for at least one antidepressant, with the most prevalent being nortriptyline, amitriptyline, and fluoxetine. This study is the first to report the use of BSG as a sorbent for DSPME, demonstrating good efficiency as indicated by the analytical figures of merit. Moreover, the method proved to be applicable in real poisoning case samples. The analytical performance, combined with advantages such as high throughput and a green profile, suggests this method as a valuable alternative for toxicological laboratories.

Sensitive determination of Fluoxetine and Citalopram antidepressants in urine and wastewater samples by liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array detector

A new analyte separation and preconcentration method for the trace determination of antidepressant drugs, Fluoxetine (FLU) and Citalopram (CIT) in urine and wastewaters, was developed based on HPLC-DAD analysis after magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE). In the proposed method, FLU and CIT were retained on the newly synthetized magnetic sorbent (Fe3O4@PPy-GO) in the presence of buffer (pH 10.0) and then were desorbed into a lower volume of acetonitrile prior to the chromatographic determinations. Before HPLC analysis, all samples were filtered through a 0.45 µm PTFE filter. Experimental parameters such as interaction time, desorption solvent and volume, and pH were studied and optimized in order to establish the detection limit, linearity, enrichment factor and other analytical figures of merit under optimum operation conditions. In the developed method, FLU and CIT were analyzed by diode array detector at the corresponding maximum wavelengths of 227 and 238 nm, respectively, by using an isocratic elution of 60% pH 3.0 buffer, 30% acetonitrile, and 10% methanol. By using the optimum conditions, limit of detections for FLU and CIT were 1.58 and 1.43 ng mL−1, respectively, while the limit of quantifications was 4.82 and 4.71 ng mL−1, respectively. Relative standard deviations (RSD%) for triplicate analyses of model solutions containing 100 ng mL−1 target molecules were found to be less than 5.0 %. Finally, the method was successfully applied to urine (both simulated and real healthy human) and wastewater samples, and quantitative results were obtained in recovery experiments.

Supramolecular microextraction combined with paper spray ionization mass spectrometry for sensitive determination of tricyclic antidepressants in urine

This work describes a novel methodology to analyze four tricyclic antidepressants (amitriptyline, doxepin, imipramine and, nortriptyline) in urine samples by combining supramolecular microextraction and paper spray ionization mass spectrometry (PS-MS). The proposed method uses a supramolecular solvent in which reverse micelles of 1-decanol are dispersed in tetrahydrofuran (THF)/water. The extraction of the tricyclic antidepressants at pH 9.0 requires a sample volume of 10.0 mL, short extraction time (1.0 min of extraction and 5 min of centrifugation), low amounts of organic solvent (50 μL of 1-decanol and 200 μL of THF), and provides high preconcentration factors: 96.9 to amitriptyline, 93.6 to doxepin, 71.3 to imipramine, and 146.9 to nortriptyline. The quantification by PS-MS is fast and straightforward because chromatographic separation is not required and all analytes were determined simultaneously. The limits of detection (LOD), quantification (LOQ), and the precision (RSD, %) of the developed method ranged between 5.2 and 8.6 μg L−1, 17.4–28.7 μg L−1 and 1.3–12.9%, respectively. Urine samples of five individuals (three males and two females) were used for accuracy evaluation. The accuracy obtained in these spiked urine samples at μg L−1 levels varied from 95.3 to 112.0%. The method also provided clean mass spectra with a high signal-to-noise ratio, which demonstrates the analytical appeal combination of supramolecular microextraction with determination by paper spray mass spectrometry.

Determination of three antidepressants in urine using simultaneous derivatization and temperature-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction followed by gas chromatography-flame ionization detection.

This paper presents a fast and simple method for the extraction, preconcentration and determination of fluvoxamine, nortriptyline and maprotiline in urine using simultaneous derivatization and temperature-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (TA-DLLME) followed by gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID). An appropriate mixture of dimethylformamide (disperser solvent), 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane (extraction solvent) and acetic anhydride (derivatization agent) was rapidly injected into the heated sample. Then the solution was cooled to room temperature and cloudy solution formed was centrifuged. Finally a portion of the sedimented phase was injected into the GC-FID. The effect of several factors affecting the performance of the method, including the selection of suitable extraction and disperser solvents and their volumes, volume of derivatization agent, temperature, salt addition, pH and centrifugation time and speed were investigated and optimized. Figures of merit of the proposed method, such as linearity (r(2) > 0.993), enrichment factors (820-1070), limits of detection (2-4 ng mL(-1)) and quantification (8-12 ng mL(-1)), and relative standard deviations (3-6%) for both intraday and interday precisions (concentration = 50 ng mL(-1)) were satisfactory for determination of the selected antidepressants. Finally the method was successfully applied to determine the target pharmaceuticals in urine.

In-tube solid-phase microextraction based on hybrid silica monolith coupled to liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry for automated analysis of ten antidepressants in human urine and plasma

A rapid, sensitive and automated in-tube solid-phase microextraction-liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (in-tube SPME/LC–MS) method was developed for the analysis of ten antidepressants in urine and plasma. A hybrid organic–inorganic silica monolith with cyanoethyl functional groups was prepared and used as a sorbent for in-tube SPME. Integration of the sample extraction, LC separation and MS detection into a single system permitted direct injection of the diluted urine or plasma after filtration. Under the optimized conditions, good extraction efficiencies for the targets were obtained with no matrix interference in the subsequent LC–MS. Automation of the sampling, extraction and separation procedures was realized under the control of a program in this study. The total process time was 30 min and only 30 μL of urine or plasma was required in one analysis cycle. Good linearities were obtained for ten antidepressants with the correlation coefficients ( R) above 0.9933. The limits of detection ( S/ N = 3) for ten antidepressants were found to be 0.06–2.84 ng/mL in urine and 0.07–2.95 ng/mL in plasma. The recoveries of antidepressants spiked in urine and plasma were from 75.2% to 113.0%, with relative standard deviations less than 16.5%. The developed method was successfully used to analyze urine sample from ageing patients undergoing therapy with antidepressants.

Capillary gas chromatographic determination of Tamoxifen in the presence of a number of antidepressants in urine

AbstractA capillary gas chromatographic method with flame ionisation detection is described for the determination of Tamoxifen in association with the antidepressants Fluoxetine, Fluvoxamine, and Clomipramine, using Anastrozole as the internal standard. Optimal conditions were investigated: column head pressure (110 kPa), injector and detector temperature (230°C and 250°C, respectively), time and temperature of the splitless step (1.25 min and 80°C), injected volume (2 μL), and oven temperature programme. This provided analysis times of under 11 minutes. Good results were obtained for different aspects including stability of the solutions, linearity, accuracy, and precision. Detection limits between 2.4 and 12 μg L–1 were obtained for all the studied compounds. A ruggedness test of the method was carried out using the Plackett‐Burman fractional factorial model with a matrix of fifteen experiments. The method which has been developed is easy, rapid and sensitive and has been used to determine Tamoxifen, Fluoxetine, Fluvoxamine, and Clomipramine present at clinically relevant levels in urine. Before GC‐FID determination, it was necessary to apply a simple extraction preconcentration step to the urine using a C18 cartridge with methanol as eluent.

Dialysis–solid-phase extraction combined on-line with non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis for improved detectability of tricyclic antidepressants in biological samples

Dialysis–solid-phase extraction (SPE) sample pretreatment is combined on-line with non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis for the determination of tricyclic antidepressants in urine and serum. After clean-up and enrichment, the water is removed from the sample matrix and the analytes are eluted from the cartridge by means of an organic solvent. Next, the eluate is transported to the capillary and the injection is performed electrokinetically. This injection, which does not suffer from an adverse sample matrix effect because of the SPE step, results in further analyte concentration. The detection limits are in the 0.02–0.1 μg/ml range and the day-to-day repeatabilities are between 2.5 and 9.5%, which is quite satisfactory.

Combined thin-layer and gas-liquid chromatographic identification of tricyclic antidepressants in urine

A combined thin-layer and gas-liquid chromatographic (TLC-GLC) procedure for determination of tricyclic antidepressant drugs in urine is described. GLC on 1.5% OV-17 was utilized to analyze basic urine extracts directly for the tricyclics and to confirm the identify of spots extracted from thin-layer chromatograms, and TLC was used to confirm the results of these GLC screens. Lower limits of sensitivity for the thin-layer spot extraction procedure were found to range from 2 μg/ml for amitriptyline and imipramine to 10 μg/ml for desipramine and nortriptyline. Turn-around-times for the GLC tricyclic screens were usually less than 1 h. The finding that nortriptyline and desipramine were chemically altered under various extraction conditions was used as a means of confirming the identity of these drugs, and the identity of these chemically altered derivatives was discussed with reference to their low resolution mass spectra.