Development of a simple nanofiber-based solid phase extraction procedure coupled with high performance liquid chromatography analysis for the quantification of eight sedative-hypnotic drugs in human urine samples

In this study, a novel solid phase extraction (SPE) method based on nanofibers was established and applied to the extraction and purification of eight sedative-hypnotic medications (zaleplon, zolpidem and six benzodiazepines drugs) from urine samples. A clean-up cartridge was homemade and polystyrene nanofibers were spun and selected as the adsorption material. After the SPE procedure, the obtained extraction solution was analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The nanofibers type, adsorbent amount and desorption conditions were the main factors affecting the extraction efficiency and were optimized in detail. Under the optimal conditions, good linearity was obtained in the range of 1-10 mu g/mL with the correlation coefficients (r) above 0.99. The LOD of the 8 analytes were 0.2-0.4 mu g/mL, and the LOQ were 0.4-1 mu g/mL. The intra- and inter-day precision (RSD) values of this method were within the acceptable ranges of 1.3-15.2% and 3.7-15.0%, respectively. The recoveries determined for the eight compounds at the three concentration levels were in the range of 90.4-113.3%. These results showed that the home-made cartridge has an excellent extraction efficiency for the studied compounds. Compared to other common pretreatment method, the proposed method is simple and reliable.

Automated summary

A novel solid phase extraction method based on nanofibers was established and applied to the extraction and purification of eight sedative-hypnotic medications from urine samples. The method showed good extraction efficiency and was simple and reliable compared to other common pretreatment methods.