Determination of LSD and its metabolites in human biological fluids by high-performance liquid chromatography with electrospray tandem mass spectrometry
J Canezin, A Cailleux, Alain Turcant, Anne Le Bouil, P. Harry, Philippe Allain
Journal of Chromatography B Biomedical Sciences and Applications December 1, 2001 DOI: 10.1016/s0378-4347(01)00386-3 (opens in new tab) via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractA liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method was developed to measure LSD and its isomer iso-LSD in blood or urine, with a detection limit of 0.02 micrograms per liter. Applied to two real cases, LSD concentrations ranged from 0.24 to 1.30 micrograms per liter. The main metabolite identified in urine was 2-oxo-3-hydroxy-LSD at 2.5 and 6.6 micrograms per liter, which was absent in plasma. Additional metabolites including nor-LSD, lysergic acid ethylamide, and various hydroxylated and glucuronide-conjugated forms were detected using specific mass spectrometry transitions.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Method development and validation with case application Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 2 |
| Population | Two individuals with LSD exposure |
| Topics | LSD |
| Keywords | Chemistry Urine Metabolite Glucuronide Tandem mass spectrometry |
| Citations | 62 |
| Key finding | The main LSD metabolite in urine is 2-oxo-3-hydroxy-LSD, present at concentrations of 2.5 and 6.6 micrograms per liter in two cases, while not detected in plasma. |
Abstract
A liquid chromatographic procedure with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometric detection has been developed and validated for LSD and iso-LSD determination. A one-step liquid-liquid extraction on 1 ml blood or urine was used. The lower limit for quantitative determination was 0.02 microg/l for LSD and iso-LSD. The analytical procedure has been applied in two positive cases (case 1: LSD=0.31 microg/l, iso-LSD=0.27 microg/l in plasma and LSD=1.30 microg/l, iso-LSD=0.82 microg/l in urine; case 2: LSD=0.24 microg/l, iso-LSD=0.6 microg/l in urine). LSD metabolism was investigated using MS-MS neutral loss monitoring for the screening of potential metabolites. The main metabolite was 2-oxo-3-hydroxy-LSD (O-H-LSD) present in urine at the concentrations of 2.5 microg/l and 6.6 microg/l, respectively, for case 1 and 2, and was not present in plasma. Nor-LSD was also found in urine at 0.15 and 0.01 microg/l levels. Nor-iso-LSD, lysergic acid ethylamide (LAE), trioxylated-LSD, lysergic acid ethyl-2-hydroxyethylamide (LEO) and 13 and 14-hydroxy-LSD and their glucuronide conjugates were detected in urine using specific MS-MS transitions.