Direct injection horse-urine analysis for the quantification and confirmation of threshold substances for doping control. IV. Determination of 3-methoxytyramine by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

Levodopa and dopamine have been abused as performance-altering substances in horse racing. Urinary 3-methoxytyramine is used as an indicator of dopaminergic manipulation resulting from dopamine or levodopa administration and is prohibited with a urinary threshold of 4 microg mL(-1) (free and conjugated). A simple liquid chromatographic (LC)/mass spectrometric (MS) (LCMS) method was developed and validated for the quantification and identification of 3-methoxytyramine in equine urine. Sample preparation involved enzymatic hydrolysis and protein precipitation. Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) was selected as a separation technique that allows effective retention of polar substances like 3-methoxytyramine and efficient separation from matrix compounds. Electrospray ionization (ESI) in positive mode with product ion scan mode was chosen for the detection of the analytes. Quantification of 3-methoxytyramine was performed with fragmentation at low collision energy, resulting in one product ion, while a second run at high collision energy was performed for confirmation (at least three abundant ions). Studies on matrix effects showed ion suppression depending on the horse urine used. To overcome the variability of the results originating from the matrix effects, isotopic labelled internal standard was used and linear regression calibration methodology was applied for the quantitative determination of the analyte. The tested linear range was 1-20 microg mL(-1). The relative standard deviations of intra- and inter- assay analysis of 3-methoxytyramine in horse urine were lower than 4.2% and 3.2%, respectively. Overall accuracy (relative percentage error) was less than 6.2%. The method was applied to case samples, demonstrating simplicity, accuracy and selectivity.