Volume 67, Issue 6 pp. 2479-2486
TECHNICAL NOTE

Determination of etomidate and etomidate acid in hair using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

Young J. Park MSc

Young J. Park MSc

College of Pharmacy, Kyungsung University, Busan, Republic of Korea

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Eunsu Cho BSc

Eunsu Cho BSc

College of Pharmacy, Kyungsung University, Busan, Republic of Korea

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So H. Kim BSc

So H. Kim BSc

College of Pharmacy, Kyungsung University, Busan, Republic of Korea

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Heesang Lee PhD

Heesang Lee PhD

National Forensic Service Busan Institute, Yangsan-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, Republic of Korea

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Hyeon Jegal BSc

Hyeon Jegal BSc

National Forensic Service Busan Institute, Yangsan-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, Republic of Korea

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Meejung Park PhD

Meejung Park PhD

National Forensic Service Busan Institute, Yangsan-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, Republic of Korea

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Sanggil Choe PhD

Sanggil Choe PhD

National Forensic Service Seoul Institute, Seoul, Republic of Korea

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Yeong E. Sim PhD

Yeong E. Sim PhD

Forensic Genetics & Chemistry Division, Supreme Prosecutors' Office, Seoul, Republic of Korea

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Seung-Hoon Baek PhD

Seung-Hoon Baek PhD

College of Pharmacy, Ajou University, Suwon, Republic of Korea

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Kang M. Kim PhD

Kang M. Kim PhD

Department of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Kyungsung University, Busan, Republic of Korea

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Jaesung Pyo PhD

Corresponding Author

Jaesung Pyo PhD

College of Pharmacy, Kyungsung University, Busan, Republic of Korea

Correspondence

Jaesung Pyo, College of Pharmacy, Kyungsung University, Busan 48434, Republic of Korea.

Email: [email protected]

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First published: 18 August 2022
Citations: 1

Abstract

Etomidate, with efficacy similar to that of propofol, has been used as a propofol substitute because propofol is a designated narcotic drug, and an increase in the frequency of illegal distribution and misuse has been reported in Korea. Previous analytical studies on etomidate used blood and urine. For long-term use and timing estimation, a method for etomidate analysis using hair should be developed. Therefore, in this study, an analytical method using LC–MS/MS was developed to determine etomidate and its major metabolite in hair. Human hair samples were segmented after washing to eliminate possible contaminants on the hair and stirred with methanol. The LC–MS/MS conditions were optimized, and the chromatographic separation time was 10 min. Selectivity, linearity, limit of detection, limit of quantification, precision, accuracy, recovery, process efficiency, matrix effect, and stability were evaluated to validate the analytical method. The calibration curves ranged from 0.25 to 50 pg/mg for etomidate and 2–250 pg/mg for etomidate acid; the coefficients of determination were higher than 0.997. The intra- and inter-assay precision results for all the compounds were <15% and satisfied at recovery, process efficiency, matrix effect, and stability. In addition, this method was applied to the hair of 4 rats which are administered with etomidate to evaluate. The etomidate concentrations in the rat hair ranged from 2.60 to 8.50 pg/mg, and the etomidate acid concentrations were 2.06–7.13 pg/mg. Thus, this method can be used as basic data for monitoring etomidate in hair.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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