Determination of Hydrocortisone and Fludrocortisone Acetate in Infant Formulas Using QuEChERS-High Performance Liquid Chromatography-tandem Mass Spectrometry
Article
Figures
Metrics
Preview PDF
Reference
Related
Cited by
Materials
Abstract:
An analytical method was developed for simultaneous determination of hydrocortisone and fludrocortisone acetate in infant formulas using QuEChERS sample preparation with high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). The samples were dispersed by water, extracted with acetonitrile, salted out with sodium chloride, and then the extract was cleaned up with primary secondary amine (PSA) and aluminum oxide (Al2O3-N). The target compounds were separated on a Waters XBridge C18 column, determined using electrospray ionization (ESI) source in positive mode with the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) acquisition mode and quantified with the matrix-matched external standard method. Under the optimal conditions, the average recoveries for the two hormones at three spiked levels (1.25, 5.00, 12.50 μg/kg) were in the range of 80.6%~102.1% with the relative standard deviations of 1.64%~4.22%. The limits of detection (LODs) were 0.40 μg/kg, and the limits of quantification (LOQs) were 1.25 μg/kg. This method was applied to analyze 28 batches of infant formulas, and hydrocortisone was found in two of them. The method is simple, rapid, sensitive, and reproducible, and can be applied to the rapid determination of hydrocortisone and fludrocortisone acetate in infant formulas.
