An improved liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric method to quantify formoterol in human urine.

Genye He, Jianghai Lu, Xiaobing Wang, Youxuan Xu, Yun Wu, Ying Dong, Li Shen, Zhenwen He, Jian Zhao, Hong Yuan

Index: J. Chromatogr. Sci. 52(8) , 848-51, (2014)

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Abstract

Formoterol is a new threshold substance in the prohibited list 2012 according to World Anti-Doping Agency. Extracted by ethyl acetate using formoterol-D6 as internal standard, formoterol underwent a constant flow rate gradient elution separation in reversed-phase liquid chromatography. Subsequently, mass spectrometry analysis was conducted by tandem mass spectrometry in the multiple reaction monitoring mode. According to the proposed method, a calibration curve was constructed in the range of 0.2-500 ng/mL (r(2) = 1) with a limit of quantification 0.2 ng/mL. The mean extracted recovery assessed at three different concentrations (1, 30 and 100 ng/mL) was more than 80%. The method was validated by the analysis of three quality control samples from World Association of Anti-Doping Scientists. In conclusion, the developed and validated method was sensitive, accurate and precise for the quantification of formoterol in human urine for doping control purposes. © The Author [2013]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.