Determination of psilocin, bufotenine, LSD and its metabolites in serum, plasma and urine by SPE-LC-MS/MS.
Rafaela Martin, Jennifer Schürenkamp, Angela Gasse, Heidi Pfeiffer, Helga Köhler
International journal of legal medicine May 1, 2013 DOI: 10.1007/s00414-012-0796-1 via PubMed
Summary
A new laboratory method using liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry reliably measures the hallucinogenic drugs psilocin, bufotenine, and LSD along with their breakdown products in blood and urine. The procedure protects unstable compounds by adding vitamin C, drying with nitrogen, and blocking light. It recovers at least 86% of each drug, shows no significant interference from other substances, and produces consistent results with low variability. Processed samples remain stable for at least two days. The method was successfully tested on real patient samples.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Method validation study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 55 |
| Key finding | A validated liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method simultaneously determines psilocin, bufotenine, LSD and its metabolites in serum, plasma, and urine with high recovery and precision. |
Abstract
A validated method for the simultaneous determination of psilocin, bufotenine, lysergic acid diethylamide and its metabolites in serum, plasma and urine using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization/tandem mass spectrometry was developed. During the solid-phase extraction procedure with polymeric mixed-mode cation exchange columns, the unstable analytes were protected by ascorbic acid, drying with nitrogen and exclusion of light. The limits of detection and quantitation for all analytes were low. Recovery was ≥86 % for all analytes and no significant matrix effects were observed. Interday and intraday imprecisions at different concentrations ranged from 1.1 to 8.2 % relative standard deviation, bias was within ±5.3 %. Processed samples were stable in the autosampler for at least 2 days. Furthermore, freeze/thaw and long-term stability were investigated. The method was successfully applied to authentic serum and urine samples.