Journal of Chromatography & Separation Techniques
Open Access

Abstract

Quantification of Buprenorphine, Norbuprenorphine and 6-Monoacetylmorphine in Urine by Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Chao Yuan, Katherine Lembright, Courtney Heideloff and Sihe Wang

Monitoring pain management medications and illicit drugs in urine is commonly used to assess patient compliance. Previously, we developed a liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method to measure 19 analytes important for pain management. In the current report, we validated this method for two additional drugs, buprenorphine and heroin. For buprenorphine, we quantified both the parent drug and its major metabolite, norbuprenorphine. For heroin, we monitored its unique metabolite, 6-monoacetylmorphine (6-MAM). Urine samples were subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis prior to turbulent flow online extraction and LC-MS/MS analysis. No matrix effect or interference was found. Lower limits of quantifications were 9.7, 9.6, and 4.9 ng/mL for buprenorphine, norbuprenorphine and 6-MAM, respectively. Within the linear range, analytical recovery was 80.5-113.0% for all analytes. Intra-assay and total coefficient of variations were between 0.2% and 10.3%. This method demonstrated consistent patient results (n=40) with the independent LC-MS/MS methods offered by two other laboratories. Percentage of glucuronide conjugation of 6-MAM varied from 0 to 45% in 8 patient urine samples positive for 6-MAM. In conclusion, we have successfully expanded current pain management panel to include buprenorphine and heroin with high sensitivity, specificity, and precision.