Mitragyna speciosa (Kratom) is a psychoactive plant that has recently emerged as a recreational drug. Mitragyna alkaloids are not within the scope of traditional forensic toxicology screening methods, which may contribute to under-reporting. In the current study, target analytes included the two known psychoactive compounds, mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, in addition to speciociliatine, speciogynine, and paynantheine. Two deuterated internal standards (mitragynine-D3 and 7-hydroxymitragynine-D3) were employed. Using traditional reversed phase chromatography all compounds and isomers were separated in 10 min. The procedure was validated in accordance with the Scientific Working Group for Forensic Toxicology (SWGTOX) Standard Practices for Method Validation. Extraction efficiencies were 63-96% and limits of quantitation were 0.5-1 ng/mL. Precision, bias and matrix effects were all within acceptable thresholds, with the exception of 7-hydroxymitragynine, which is notably unstable and unsuitable for quantitative analysis. In this paper we present a simultaneous quantitative analytical method for mitragynine, speciociliatine, speciogynine and paynantheine, and a qualitative assay for 7-hydroxymitragynine in urine using high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). (publisher abstract modified)
Identification of Five Mitragyna Alkaloids in Urine Using Liquid Chromatography-Quadrupole/Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry
NCJ Number
253129
Journal
Journal of Chromatography B-Analytical Technologies in the Biomedical and Life Sciences Volume: 1080 Dated: March 2018 Pages: 11-19
Date Published
March 2018
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This study used Solid phase extraction (SPE) and liquid chromatography-quadrupole/time of flight mass spectrometry (LC-Q/TOF-MS) to identify five alkaloids in urine.
Abstract