Development and validation of a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the determination of nicotine and its metabolites in placenta and umbilical cord.

Abstract

Tobacco exposure during pregnancy is associated with obstetric and fetal complications. This study developed and validated a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method to analyse the placenta (PL) and umbilical cord (UC) for nicotine, cotinine and hydroxycotinine (OH-cotinine). Specimens were homogenized in water, followed by solid-phase extraction. Chromatographic separation was performed using an Atlantis HILIC Silica column. Detection was accomplished in electrospray in positive mode. Method validation included: linearity (5 to 1000 ng/g), accuracy (86.9 to 105.2% of target concentration in PL, and 89.1 to 105.0% in UC), imprecision (6.8 to 11.8% in PL, and 7.6 to 12.2% in UC), limits of detection (2 ng/g for cotinine and OH-cotinine, and 5 ng/g for nicotine) and quantification (5 ng/g), selectivity (no endogenous or exogenous interferences), matrix effect (-34.1 to -84.5% in PL, %CV = 9.1-24.0%; -18.9 to -84.7% in UC, %CV = 10.2-23.9%), extraction efficiency (60.7 to 131.5% in PL, and 64.1 to 134.2% in UC), and stability 72 h in the autosampler ( < 11.5% loss in PL, and < 13% loss in UC). The method was applied to 14 PL and UC specimens from tobacco users during pregnancy. Cotinine (6.8-312.2 ng/g in PL; 6.7-342.3 ng/g in UC) was the predominant analyte, followed by OH-cotinine ( < LOQ-80.2 ng/g in PL; < LOQ-80.5 ng/g in UC) and nicotine (5.7-63.7 ng/g in PL; 5.1-63.3 ng/g in UC). In a future study, this method will be applied to more than 150 specimens collected from a wide clinical study to evaluate the usefulness of maternal hair, meconium, placenta and umbilical cord compared to the maternal interview to detect in utero drug exposure.

Citation

PANIAGUA-GONZÁLEZ. L., JIMÉNEZ-MORIGOSA, C., LENDOIRO, E., CONCHEIRO, M., CRUZ, A., LÓPEZ-RIVADULLA, M. and DE CASTRO, A. 2018. Development and validation of a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the determination of nicotine and its metabolites in placenta and umbilical cord. Drug testing and analysis [online], 10(8), pages 1305-1314. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1002/dta.2381

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 7, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Apr 27, 2018
• Publication Date: Aug 31, 2018
• Deposit Date: Sep 3, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 28, 2019
• Journal: Drug testing and analysis
• Print ISSN: 1942-7603
• Electronic ISSN: 1942-7611
• Publisher: Wiley Open Access
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 10
• Issue: 8
• Pages: 1305-1314
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/dta.2381
• Keywords: Nicotine; Placenta; Umbilical cord; Tobacco; LCMS/MS
• Public URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10059/3118