OBJECTIVE: To propose a method for determination of tetrodotoxin (TTX) in human blood, urine and liver by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). METHODS: Solid phase extraction is used after the samples are precipitated, then the samples will be analyzed by LC-MS/MS. RESULTS: The limits of detection were 2 ng/mL in blood and urine and 4 ng/g in liver for TIX respectively, the linear correlation coefficients were not less than 0.9973, both of the intra-day and inter-day precisions were less than 12.80%, the recoveries for all kinds of specimens were more than 47.2%. CONCLUSION This method is efficient, sensitive and accurate and was successfully validated for implementation in forensic toxicological analysis.
Animals ; Body Fluids/chemistry* ; Chromatography, Liquid/methods* ; Female ; Forensic Toxicology ; Humans ; Liver/chemistry* ; Reproducibility of Results ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Solid Phase Extraction ; Specimen Handling/methods* ; Swine ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry/methods* ; Tetrodotoxin/urine*