Determination of 27 Glucocorticoids in Urine by Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry Using UniSpray^TM Source

Abstract

Glucocorticoids (GCs) are a group of the most important and commonly used anti-inflammatory, antiallergenic, and immunosuppressive drugs. Like narcotics, they can be addictive if taken at increasing doses to achieve greater analgesic effects. The purpose of the study was to develop initial and confirmation testing analytical methods that would allow for the identification of glucocorticoid class substances in human urine to be used for routine analyses for the purposes of prosecution in the case of abuse, for clinical toxicology, medical jurisprudence, as well as for routine testing of athletes for the presence of prohibited substances in sports by means of ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) using a new generation ionization source UniSprayTM (U.S). This new method allows for the simultaneous detection of 27 glucocorticoids in human urine using LC-MS/MS. The tests conducted yielded relatively low LOD and LOQ values, ranging from 0.06 ng/mL to 0.14 ng/mL and 0.75 ng/mL for LOD and LOQ, respectively.

Keywords

• glucocorticoids
• UHPLC-MS/MS
• doping
• urine