Multiply-functionalized graphene oxide on-line pass-through cleanup for the fast determination of aconitum alkaloids in human plasma by LC-MS/MS

Abstract

A novel ionic liquid coupled with nano-titania coated modified magnetic GO composites (IL-Ti-Mag-GO) has been synthesized. It has been evaluated in an on-line pass-through cleanup procedure for human plasma prior to the analysis of aconitum alkaloids, i.e., mesaconitine, hypaconitine and aconitine, by liquid chromatography-tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Under optimum conditions, the level of matrix effects can be dramatically reduced by the IL-Ti-Mag-GO on-line pass-through cleanup procedure, with satisfactory recoveries ranging from 81.2% to 108%. The trueness and precision of the developed method were satisfactory, with relative errors (REs) less than 19% and within- and between-run RSDs less than 7.0%. The limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantification (LOQs) for aconitum alkaloids were in the range of 0.01–0.028 μg L⁻¹ and 0.034–0.092 μg L⁻¹, respectively. The developed analytical method has been successfully applied to the analysis of mesaconitine, hypaconitine and aconitine in two cases of suspected aconite poisoning, and the concentration of aconitine and hypaconitine in one sample was determined to be 0.076 μg L⁻¹ and 0.069 μg L⁻¹, respectively. The results demonstrate the applicability of the developed analytical method to clinical studies.