A multi-target screening analysis in human plasma using fast liquid chromatography–hybrid tandem mass spectrometry (Part I)

ObjectivesEvaluate a new LC–MS/MS screening method for drugs and drugs of abuse as an alternative to the existing methods used in clinical toxicology laboratories.Design and methodsThe work was divided in two parts. The first part was dedicated to the technical development and evaluation of the method for which a set of 97 drugs and relevant metabolites was used to perform a complete investigation of matrix effects and lower limit of identification (LOI). The second part was a comparison of identified drugs between LC–MS/MS and Remedi® instrument on clinical serum samples.ResultsThe method offers good performance allowing an automatic peak detection and compound identification. The limit of identification is equivalent to 50 μg/L for the majority of the studied compounds. The process efficiency (PE) is higher than 70% for 65% of the evaluated compounds. Thus, a sufficient detection capability in terms of limit of detection for identification and PE satisfied the expected performance.ConclusionThe described methodology allows the identification of the main drugs incriminated in intoxications within a quite short analysis time. The separation of most of the analytes is performed in 15 min. The procedure is sufficiently sensitive and selective.