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Low‐temperature plasma‐probe mass spectrometry based method for determination of new psychoactive substances in oral fluid
Author(s) -
Wang Xiaochen,
Hua Zhendong,
Yang Zhaoguang,
Li Haipu,
Liu Huwei,
Qiu Bo,
Nie Honggang
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
rapid communications in mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.528
H-Index - 136
eISSN - 1097-0231
pISSN - 0951-4198
DOI - 10.1002/rcm.8112
Subject(s) - chemistry , chromatography , analyte , mass spectrometry , detection limit , drugs of abuse , analytical chemistry (journal) , calibration curve , pharmacology , drug , medicine
Rationale Owing to the widespread abuse of new psychoactive substances (NPSs), developing a rapid, easily operable method to detect NPSs in oral fluid is of high priority. Their ease of collection and non‐invasive nature make oral fluid samples suitable for on‐site tests and forensic cases. Herein we report a rapid and sensitive method to screen and quantitate 11 new NPSs in oral fluid. Methods Low‐temperature plasma‐probe mass spectrometry (LTP‐MS) was applied and, to improve the signal intensity, thermally assisted desorption was employed. Tandem mass spectrometry was performed to exclude false positive signals and to decrease noise at the m/z values of interest. Results Linearity was studied using matrix‐matched calibration curves; all the analytes exhibited good linearity with R 2 varying from 0.9907 to 0.9981. The estimated limits of detection (LODs) were in the range of 3.0–15.2 ng/mL, which are comparable to those of immunoassay; relative standard deviations (RSDs) are no greater than 23% at the studied concentration levels. Conclusions The proposed LTP‐MS‐based method was promising in forensic and on‐site applications to curb the abuse of NPSs.