OBJECTIVE: To develop a method for simultaneous determination of sixteen antibiotics in human urine by ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). METHODS: With Piperacillin as an internal standard, the target antibiotics in urine samples were enriched and purified by Oasis HLB solid phase extraction (SPE) cartridges, then separated in a ZORBAX SB-C18 column with a gradient elution of mobile phase of 0.1% formic acid water and acetonitrile, finally analyzed with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. RESULTS: The limits of detection (LOD) for these sixteen antibiotics were in the range of 0.05-10.0 ng/mL and the limits of quantification (LOQ) in the range of 0.25-20.0 ng/mL. Within the related linear range, the related coefficient (r) of sixteen antibiotics were all more than 0.995. Accuracies for these antibiotics were ranged from 82.0%-119.3%, the within-day precision were less than 13.9%. CONCLUSION The developed method is sensitive, specific and appropriate for the analysis of antibiotics in forensic toxicology and therapeutic drugs monitoring.
Ampicillin/urine* ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/urine* ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods* ; Forensic Toxicology ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Penicillins/urine* ; Reproducibility of Results ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Solid Phase Extraction ; Solvents/chemistry* ; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization/methods* ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry/methods* ; Time Factors