Evaluation of blood impurity removal efficiency using the QuEChERS method.

IF 3 4区医学 Q2 TOXICOLOGY

Forensic Toxicology Pub Date : 2025-10-06 DOI:10.1007/s11419-025-00740-5

Haruki Kuze, Haruhi Yoshida, Hikaru Tamagawa, Taichi Nishihori, Yuri Tokugawa, Fumika Yamamoto, Hiroshi Matsumoto, Kazuo Harada

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Purpose: Comparison of the impurity removal efficiencies of the deproteinization and Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, Safe (QuEChERS) methods, which are pretreatment methods for drug analysis adopted by many forensic autopsy institutions, was performed.

Method: Residual cardiac blood samples were pretreated using deproteinization and QuEChERS methods. The residual amounts of total proteins, total lipids, glucose, galactose, electrolytes, and inorganic elements were measured. We also compared the recovery rates and matrix factors when using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS).

Results: The residual rates of total proteins, total lipids, glucose, galactose, and electrolytes using the deproteinization method were 16%, 75%, 75%, 90%, and 91%, respectively. In contrast, the QuEChERS method showed 1.1%, 11%, 7.6%, 9.4%, and 20%, respectively. The amounts of Mg and Mn in QuEChERS increased compared with those before treatment, but other inorganic elements remained at 9.6-89% during deproteinization and 0.30-17% in the QuEChERS. The recovery rate of metformin was low in QuEChERS; however, no differences were observed in the recovery rates or matrix factors of the other 16 drugs between deproteinization and QuEChERS.

Conclusions: This study quantitatively demonstrated that QuEChERS is extremely efficient at removing impurities from blood compared with deproteinization methods. QuEChERS has poor recovery rates for highly polar drugs but does not prevent their detection. The QuEChERS method is superior to the deproteinization method, considering the load of impurities on the analytical instruments.

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使用QuEChERS方法评价血液杂质去除效率。

目的：比较多法医尸检机构采用的药物分析前处理方法——脱蛋白法和Quick， Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, Safe （QuEChERS）法的除杂效率。方法：采用脱蛋白法和QuEChERS法对心脏残血进行预处理。测定了总蛋白、总脂质、葡萄糖、半乳糖、电解质和无机元素的残留量。并比较了液相色谱/串联质谱法（LC/MS/MS）的回收率和基质因子。结果：脱蛋白法对总蛋白、总脂、葡萄糖、半乳糖和电解质的残留率分别为16%、75%、75%、90%和91%。相比之下，QuEChERS方法分别为1.1%、11%、7.6%、9.4%和20%。与处理前相比，QuEChERS中Mg和Mn的含量有所增加，但其他无机元素在脱蛋白过程中保持在9.6-89%，在QuEChERS中保持在0.30-17%。QuEChERS中二甲双胍的回收率较低；然而，其他16种药物在去蛋白和QuEChERS的回收率和基质因子方面没有差异。结论：本研究定量证明，与脱蛋白方法相比，QuEChERS在去除血液杂质方面非常有效。QuEChERS对高极性药物的回收率很低，但不能阻止它们的检测。考虑到分析仪器上杂质的负荷，QuEChERS法优于脱蛋白法。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Forensic Toxicology TOXICOLOGY-

CiteScore

5.80

自引率

9.10%

发文量

审稿时长

3 months

期刊介绍： The journal Forensic Toxicology provides an international forum for publication of studies on toxic substances, drugs of abuse, doping agents, chemical warfare agents, and their metabolisms and analyses, which are related to laws and ethics. It includes original articles, reviews, mini-reviews, short communications, and case reports. Although a major focus of the journal is on the development or improvement of analytical methods for the above-mentioned chemicals in human matrices, appropriate studies with animal experiments are also published. Forensic Toxicology is the official publication of the Japanese Association of Forensic Toxicology (JAFT) and is the continuation of the Japanese Journal of Forensic Toxicology (ISSN 0915-9606).