( Purpose Research...)Simultaneous Screening of 23 Drugs of Abuse in Oral Fluid Using an LC/MS/MS Method

Purpose

Researchers and forensic agencies that test samples or screen post mortem patient specimens for drugs of abuse currently employ immuno- or colourimetric assays. These assays suffer from a number of limitations:

They lack specificity.

They are not as commonly available for novel sample matrices such as saliva as they are for urine or serum samples.

They can be relatively costly due to the high volume of reagents used.

They are not commercially available for many significant drugs and their metabolites.

In addition, with conventional approaches, testing for drugs of abuse is done separately for each of several classes of compounds (e.g. opiates, benzodiazepines, etc.), which requires time-consuming multiple assays. To screen for a portfolio of drugs from different compound classes, it is often necessary to perform repeat analysis on indvidual samples.

Overview

This application note describes a novel LC/MS/MS research method for the simultaneous screening of 23 drugs of abuse from extracted oral fluid samples. This method provides equal or better sensitivity than traditional immunoassays, while also being more specific, more cost effective, and less time consuming.

Key Features

Sensitive and selective Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM) scan function provides linear quantitative analysis with wide dynamic range.

The patented LINAC collision cell within the Applied Biosystems/MDS SCIEX API 3000TM Mass Spectrometer increases the number of compounds that can be analyzed simultaneously, without loss of sensitivity or increased LC separation.

The quantitative facility of the Applied Biosystems/MDS SCIEX Analyst Software organizes and displays results for quick interpretation.

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