UCT Flagship Sorbent Clean Screen® DAU cited in Beta Blockers/Beta Agonists Paper

UCT’s flagship solid phase extraction (SPE) sorbent, Clean Screen^® DAU, has been employed by countless forensic toxicology laboratories for the extraction of various drugs and metabolites from biological samples. In a recent paper published in Journal of Chromatographic Science (doi: 10.1093/chromsci/bmx045) by A.A. Salem et al, this acclaimed sorbent (130 mg in 3 mL format) was effectively utilized to isolate β-blockers and β2-agonists from human plasma and urine.

Cardiovascular disease is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Subsequently, the overall consumption of both β-blockers and β2-agonists has significantly increased over the last decade in an attempt to mitigate effects of this condition such as abnormal heart rhythms, angina, hypertension, tachycardia, thyrotoxicosis, and hypertrophic subaortic stenosis. The authors above developed a highly sensitive method for the determinations of the following commonly prescribed β-blockers and β2-agonists: acebutolol, clenbuterol, nadolol, oxprenolol, propranolol, terbutaline and timolol. The method was optimized using electrospray ionization liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–ESI–MS-MS) and Clean Screen^® DAU extraction cartridges.

The validated method was linear over the ranges of 5.0–50.0 and 50.0–1000.0 ng/mL for analytes spiked in plasma and urine respectively, with correlation coefficients greater than 0.95, detection limits ranging from 0.06 to 5.04 pg/mL and quantification limits around 0.14–22.88 pg/mL for the target analytes. The developed method was successfully applied to the analysis of β-blockers and β2-agonists in plasma and urine samples.  Recoveries from fortified plasma samples ranged from 74% to 118%. Fortified urine samples produced percentage recoveries ranging from 104% to130 %, with percentage coefficients of variance around 0.05–0.35 and 0.04–0.12, respectively. Results suggest that the developed method is well suited for the analysis of investigated drugs in biological fluids. For more information regarding Clean Screen^® DAU and our available configurations, please visit https://sampleprep.unitedchem.com/products/spe/clinical-forensic/clean-screen-dau.