Development of a rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of amphetamines in human plasma and oral fluid by LC-MS-MS

Target analysis of amphetamines in biological samples is of great importance for clinical and forensic toxicologists alike. At present, most laboratories analyze such samples by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. However, this procedure is labor-intensive and time-consuming, particularly as a preliminary extraction and derivatization are usually unavoidable. Here we describe the development of an alternative method. Amphetamines were isolated from human plasma and oral fluid using a simple methanol precipitation step and subsequently analyzed using reversed-phase liquid chromatographytandem mass spectrometry. Quantitation of the drugs was performed using multiple reaction monitoring. The developed method, which requires only 50 μL of biological sample, has a total analysis time of less than 20 min (including sample preparation) and enables the simultaneous quantitation of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine, 3,4-methylenedioxyethylamphetamine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, and ephedrine in a single chromatographic run. Limits of detection of 2 μg/L or better were obtained. The method has been validated and subsequently applied to the analysis of plasma and oral fluid samples collected from current drug users.