Quantitation of Opiates in Urine Using High Resolution Mass Spectrometry

Can opiates in human urine be quantitated both quickly and accurately using high resolution mass spectrometry? With Orbitrap HR/AM mass spectrometry, precision doesn’t need to be sacrificed for speed.

Forensic toxicologists perform analysis of human urine to search for the presence of illegal and controlled substances, including opiates such as morphine or oxycodone. These analyses can play a part in law enforcement decisions; thus it’s critical that test results be highly precise. With a large number of samples to analyze, it’s also important for the process to be speedy and efficient.

Method: Opiates include morphine, codeine, hydromorphone, hydrocodone, oxymorphone, and oxycodone. The method precision and accuracy were evaluated by running a calibration curve and quintuplicate replicates of quality controls on three different days.

表 1. Inter-assay precision and bias.

		コデイン	Hydrocodone	Hydromorphone	Morphine	オキシコドン	Oxymorphone
5ng/mL	% RSD	3.82	3.67	3.89	7.54	2.78	3.43
5ng/mL	% Bias	-4.11	7.20	5.28	0.18	-6.19	-2.04
10ng/mL	% RSD	4.13	6.06	2.79	4.35	3.35	2.78
10ng/mL	% Bias	-7.00	-3.47	-0.20	-6.15	-5.24	-3.60
100ng/mL	% RSD	3.00	6.13	2.03	2.28	2.58	1.62
100ng/mL	% Bias	7.43	5.51	-0.16	0.98	5.34	0.26
1000ng/mL	% RSD	3.63	4.21	1.35	2.52	1.99	2.29
1000ng/mL	% Bias	6.07	3.64	3.53	4.67	5.44	2.86

Results: The Q Exactive Focus MS accurately quantitated all six opiates tested. The average recovery across 58 donor urine samples obtained from a collaborator laboratory ranged from 69% to 81% for the six internal standards evaluated. The Q Exactive Focus MS is a versatile instrument capable of both screening large panels and quantitative confirmation of specific panels.

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