Development of a New LC-MS/MS Screening Method for Detection of 120 NPS and 43 Drugs in Blood

Abstract

In the last few years, liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC/MS) has been increasingly used for screening purposes in forensic toxicology. These techniques have the advantages of low time/resource-consuming and high versatility and have been applied in numerous new multi-analytes methods. The new psychoactive substance (NPS) phenomenon provided a great impulse to this wide-range approach, but it is also important to keep the attention on “classical” psychoactive substances, such as benzodiazepines (BDZ). In this paper, a fully validated screening method in blood for the simultaneous detection of 163 substances (120 NPS and 43 other drugs) by a dynamic multiple reaction monitoring analysis through LC-MS/MS is described. The method consists of a deproteinization of 200 µL of blood with acetonitrile. The LC separation is achieved with a 100 mm long C18 column in 35 min. The method was very sensitive, with limits of quantification from 0.02 to 1.5 ng/mL. Matrix effects did not negatively affect the analytical sensitivity. This method proved to be reliable and was successfully applied to our routinary analytical activity in several forensic caseworks, allowing the identification and quantification of many BDZs and 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV).

The Latest Ideas of Medical and Biological Developments and Improvement of Psychological Sciences by Scientists

“…However, toxicological screening proves that the biological tissues of a corpse often show non-lethal concentrations of several toxic substances in the absence of signs of injuries and diseases that could lead to death. Under such circumstances, there are difficulties in determining the immediate cause of death, and in formulating the final clinical diagnosis and forensic diagnoses [67,68].…”

A Forensic Diagnostic Algorithm for Drug-Related Deaths: A Case Series

“…The source parameters were: gas temperature 325 • C; gas flow rate 10 L/min; nebulizer 20 psi; capillary 4000 V. Chromatographic separations were carried out on a Zorbax Eclipse Plus C18 column (2.1 mm × 1000 mm, 1.8 µm, Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA, US). Elution gradients and multiple reaction monitoring transitions for all the detectable substances are described in the previous paper [16].…”

“…Such scenarios influence investigation results, leading to a lower quality contributing to epidemiological reports and public health and law enforcement measures [8][9][10][11]. In this regard, high-quality Toxics 2022, 10, 152 2 of 16 and standardized methodologies are required in forensic diagnosis in case of recognition of drug-related deaths When a drug intoxication is suspected, a multidisciplinary approach is mandatory to establish the cause and manner of death. This article reports eight cases of death related to drug misuse or abuse of substances in which a complete diagnostic algorithm based on the best evidence provided in the literature was essential to answering forensic questions.…”

Comparison of LC-MS and LC-DAD Methods of Detecting Abused Piperazine Designer Drugs

“…The available literature and data indicate an increasing number and chemical diversity of new psychoactive substances (NPS), also known as designer drugs [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Products of this type are advertised as a modern alternative to illegal drugs, the possession and sale of which is prohibited by law [ 4 , 5 ].…”

“…Wherever circumstances indicate drug use, the positive and negative test results should be confirmed by other techniques, as observed in studies with amphetamines [ 71 , 72 ]. Till now, various modern NPS detection methods, which use liquid chromatography (LC) or gas chromatography (GC), have been proposed [ 3 , 12 , 15 , 41 , 69 , 70 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 ]. However, other studies using GC-MS, LC-MS and LC-DAD usually did not deal directly with the piperazine designer drugs [ 12 , 15 , 69 , 75 , 76 ].…”