Validation of a confirmatory method of salbutamol in sheep hair by UPLC-MS/MS and its application to pharmacokinetic study

• A new method for determining salbutamol in animal hair was established.
• The usefulness of different procedures for extraction of incurred hair were evaluated.
• The method was successfully applied to the pharmacokinetic study of sheep hair.

A new method for determining salbutamol in hair of sheep by ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was established. Samples were extracted with 0.1 M of HCl solution. The mixture was heated to 60 °C in a water bath and kept at this temperature for 4 h. The extracts were purified through SPE method and then dried with nitrogen. Residues were redissolved in mobile phase. The target compound was determined by UPLC-MS/MS with BEH-C18 column. The usefulness and feasibility of different treatment procedures of hair containing salbutamol were evaluated. The range of linearity was 1–100 ng/g. The LOD was 0.3 ng/g, and the LOQ was 1 ng/g. Recoveries were 89–106%, and coefficients of variation were 3.2–13.9%. Pharmacokinetics of salbutamol was studied in healthy sheep after oral administration of 150 μg/kg body weight salbutamol for 21 consecutive days. Salbutamol residues in hair were still detected after 21 days of administration.

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