LC-MS/MS analysis of propofol in postmortem blood: propofol glucuronide as an indicator of exposure

IF 1.4 4区医学 Q3 MEDICINE, LEGAL

Legal Medicine Pub Date : 2026-07-01 Epub Date: 2026-06-23 DOI:10.1016/j.legalmed.2026.102900

Koji Yamaguchi, Ayumi Motomura, Namiko Ishii, Keisuke Okaba, Shizuru Hara, Aiko Ando, Daisuke Yajima

{"title":"LC-MS/MS analysis of propofol in postmortem blood: propofol glucuronide as an indicator of exposure","authors":"Koji Yamaguchi, Ayumi Motomura, Namiko Ishii, Keisuke Okaba, Shizuru Hara, Aiko Ando, Daisuke Yajima","doi":"10.1016/j.legalmed.2026.102900","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Propofol (PRF) is a short-acting intravenous anesthetic widely used for the induction and maintenance of general anesthesia. However, multiple accidental deaths resulting from the non-therapeutic use of PRF have been reported; therefore, PRF is an important target analyte in forensic investigations. In this study, quantitative analytical methods for PRF and propofol glucuronide (PRG) in postmortem blood were developed using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). For quantification, PRF was derivatized with <em>N</em>-(2-(bromomethyl)benzyl)-<em>N</em>,<em>N</em>-diethylethanaminium bromide (CAX<img>B) to increase LC-MS/MS detection sensitivity. PRF was quantified using selected reaction monitoring (SRM) in positive ion mode. The extract was diluted after the derivatization reaction, and the quantification range was set to 0.1–20 μg/mL, which is suitable for routine quantitative analysis of PRF in postmortem blood samples. PRG was quantified using SRM in positive ion mode. Both analytical methods were validated and applied to authentic postmortem blood samples. The utility of PRG as a complementary marker in SRM-based drug screening was evaluated. Our findings demonstrate that PRG is a valuable indicator of PRF exposure in forensic casework and may help address limitations in the routine detection of PRF.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49913,"journal":{"name":"Legal Medicine","volume":"84 ","pages":"Article 102900"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4000,"publicationDate":"2026-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Legal Medicine","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1344622326001288","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2026/6/23 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"MEDICINE, LEGAL","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Propofol (PRF) is a short-acting intravenous anesthetic widely used for the induction and maintenance of general anesthesia. However, multiple accidental deaths resulting from the non-therapeutic use of PRF have been reported; therefore, PRF is an important target analyte in forensic investigations. In this study, quantitative analytical methods for PRF and propofol glucuronide (PRG) in postmortem blood were developed using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). For quantification, PRF was derivatized with N-(2-(bromomethyl)benzyl)-N,N-diethylethanaminium bromide (CAXB) to increase LC-MS/MS detection sensitivity. PRF was quantified using selected reaction monitoring (SRM) in positive ion mode. The extract was diluted after the derivatization reaction, and the quantification range was set to 0.1–20 μg/mL, which is suitable for routine quantitative analysis of PRF in postmortem blood samples. PRG was quantified using SRM in positive ion mode. Both analytical methods were validated and applied to authentic postmortem blood samples. The utility of PRG as a complementary marker in SRM-based drug screening was evaluated. Our findings demonstrate that PRG is a valuable indicator of PRF exposure in forensic casework and may help address limitations in the routine detection of PRF.

查看原文本刊更多论文

死后血液中异丙酚的LC-MS/MS分析：异丙酚葡萄糖醛酸盐作为暴露指标。

异丙酚（PRF）是一种短效静脉麻醉药，广泛用于全身麻醉的诱导和维持。然而，据报道，由于非治疗性使用PRF造成多次意外死亡；因此，PRF是法医调查中重要的目标分析物。本研究采用液相色谱-串联质谱（LC-MS/MS）技术，建立了尸体血液中PRF和异丙酚葡萄糖醛酸酯（PRG）的定量分析方法。定量时，用N-（2-（溴甲基）苄基）-N，N-二乙基溴化乙胺（CAXB）衍生化PRF，以提高LC-MS/MS检测灵敏度。采用选择性反应监测（SRM）在正离子模式下定量PRF。衍生化反应后对提取液进行稀释，定量范围设为0.1 ~ 20 μg/mL，适用于尸检血液标本中PRF的常规定量分析。用SRM在正离子模式下定量PRG。这两种分析方法都经过验证并应用于真实的死后血液样本。评估了PRG作为基于srm的药物筛选的补充标记物的效用。我们的研究结果表明，PRG是法医案件工作中PRF暴露的一个有价值的指标，可能有助于解决PRF常规检测的局限性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Legal Medicine Nursing-Issues, Ethics and Legal Aspects

CiteScore

2.80

自引率

6.70%

发文量

119

审稿时长

7.9 weeks

期刊介绍： Legal Medicine provides an international forum for the publication of original articles, reviews and correspondence on subjects that cover practical and theoretical areas of interest relating to the wide range of legal medicine. Subjects covered include forensic pathology, toxicology, odontology, anthropology, criminalistics, immunochemistry, hemogenetics and forensic aspects of biological science with emphasis on DNA analysis and molecular biology. Submissions dealing with medicolegal problems such as malpractice, insurance, child abuse or ethics in medical practice are also acceptable.