Background: Since propofol is rapidly metabolized and excreted from the body, it is not easy to quantify its
intake in blood or urine sample over the time. In this case, the hair sample would be more advantageous to estimate during
the abuse period. However, presence of protein and lipid in the hair sample could interfere extraction and be problematic
during mass spectrometric analysis.
Objective: The aim of this study is to develop the simple and less-time consuming method for extraction of propofol
glucuronide by removing hair interferences with centrifugal filter.
Method: Hair samples were washed and dissolved with sodiumhydroxide solution. This dissolved hair solution was
applied to centrifugal filter and centrifuged. The filtrate was extracted with ethyl acetate and evaporated to dryness. The
residue was reconstituted with methanol and analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry.
This developed analytical method was validated by testing of linearity, selectivity, accuracy, precision, recovery, matrix
effect and stability of propofol glucuronide.
Results and Discussion: The validation results showed good linearity over the concentration range of 0.5~500 pg/mg,
with correlation coefficient of 0.9991. The LOD and LLOQ was 0.2 and 0.5 pg/mg, respectively. The intra-and inter-day
precision and accuracy were acceptable within 14.5% for precision and 10.1% for accuracy. Similarly, the developed
method revealed high sample recovery (>88%), low hair matrix effect (<10%) and highly-efficient extraction procedure.
Conclusion: This well validated procedure was successfully applied to determine propofol glucuronide in rat hair sample
and can be applicable, with high potential, in the field of forensic toxicology especially with increasing abuse and
accidental overdose of propofol.
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