Citation

Sørensen LK, Hasselstrøm JB. J. Anal. Toxicol. 2014; 38(4): 177-183.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Preston Publications)

DOI

10.1093/jat/bku010

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Vigabatrin, pregabalin, gabapentin and baclofen are γ-aminobutyric acid analogs that are used in the treatment of epileptic seizures (vigabatrin, pregabalin and gabapentin) and spasticity (baclofen). The intake of these drugs may induce adverse reactions and impair the ability of an individual to drive a vehicle. There have also been reports of cases of intoxication and fatalities from overdoses. For rapid and accurate quantification of these drugs in forensic cases, an ultraperformance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method using pneumatically assisted electrospray ionization has been developed. The technique has been validated on both ante- and postmortem human whole blood. The protein in the blood samples was removed by the addition of a mixture of methanol and acetonitrile, and the extract was ultrafiltered and diluted with acetonitrile. The separation was performed by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography. Calibration of the system was achieved through use of matrix-matched calibrants combined with isotope dilution. The lower limits of quantification were 0.02-0.04 mg/L, and the relative intra-laboratory reproducibility standard deviations were <4 and 8% at concentrations of 10 and 1 mg/L, respectively. The mean true recoveries were >89%. The trueness expressed as the relative bias of the test results was within ±7% at concentrations of 1-40 mg/L for vigabatrin, pregabalin and gabapentin and of 0.1-4 mg/L for baclofen. © The Author [2014]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Humans; human; standard; Calibration; Postmortem Changes; suicide attempt; Reproducibility of Results; drug overdose; Chromatography, Liquid; Tandem Mass Spectrometry; forensic toxicology; Forensic Toxicology; epilepsy; article; liquid chromatography; drug blood level; seizure; reproducibility; drug determination; gabapentin; vigabatrin; pregabalin; blood; 4 aminobutyric acid; drug metabolite; Reference Standards; calibration; baclofen; quantitative analysis; tandem mass spectrometry; procedures; spasticity; electrospray mass spectrometry; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization; gamma-Aminobutyric Acid; devices; analogs and derivatives; chemical phenomena; limit of detection; postmortem change; Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; 4 aminobutyric acid derivative; hydrophilic interaction chromatography; Limit of Detection