Drugs of Abuse

Mass Spectrometry Applications-Drugs of Abuse

Mass Spectrometry Applications

Conventional methods for drugs of abuse analysis for forensic technology require multiple assays and repeated analysis on individual samples, which can be both expensive and time consuming. By comparison, LC tandem mass spec analysis for forensic toxicology provides an easy and rapid technique that enables simultaneous multi-drug quantitation and identification from various sample matrices such as saliva, urine, or serum samples. In addition, the sensitivity of LC/MS/MS quantitative methods is capable of detecting and quantifying drugs of abuse for forensic toxicology at levels significantly lower than the current cut-off levels.

For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

Analysis across drug classes
LC/MS/MS has become a very valuable tool in forensic toxicology screening. By using LC/MS/MS, sample preparation can be simplified and run times reduced, resulting in increased throughput and faster sample turnaround times. Sample preparation is generic, allowing for screening across a wide variety of compound classes using a single sample preparation procedure and chromatographic analysis.

One of the most significant advantages of being able to use a simple, relatively generic sample preparation for forensic toxicology is that it allows analysis of drugs across multiple compound classes in a single method. An example of this multi-class drug analysis is demonstrated in Figure 1, which shows analysis of 9 opiates and 10 benzodiazepines in 6 minutes.

Figure 1: Combined benzodiazepine and opiate analysis. Nine opiates and ten benzodiazepines were analyzed in a single method. Data shown are from a 10 ng/mL calibrator (1 ng/mL for fentanyl), and total run time was 6 minutes.

Figure 1: An example of this multi-class drug analysis which shows analysis of 9 opiates and 10 benzodiazepines in 6 minutes.

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