1. Academic Validation
  2. Multiresidue antibiotic-metabolite quantification method using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry for environmental and public exposure estimation

Multiresidue antibiotic-metabolite quantification method using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry for environmental and public exposure estimation

  • Anal Bioanal Chem. 2021 Sep;413(23):5901-5920. doi: 10.1007/s00216-021-03573-4.
Elizabeth Holton 1 Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern 2
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Chemistry, University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK.
  • 2 Department of Chemistry, University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK. b.kasprzyk-hordern@bath.ac.uk.
Abstract

This manuscript describes a new multiresidue method utilising ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) via multiple reaction monitoring (MRM), for the identification and quantification of 58 Antibiotics and their 26 metabolites, in various solid and liquid environmental matrices. The method was designed with a 'one health' approach in mind requiring multidisciplinary and multisectoral collaborative efforts. It enables comprehensive evaluation of Antibiotic usage in surveyed communities via wastewater-based epidemiology, as well as allowing for the assessment of potential environmental impacts. The instrumental performance was very good, demonstrating linearity up to 3000 μg L-1, and high accuracy and precision. The method accuracy in several compounds was significantly improved by dividing calibration curves into separate ranges. This was accompanied by applying a weighting factor (1/x). Microwave-assisted and/or solid-phase extraction of analytes from liquid and solid matrices provided good recoveries for most compounds, with only a few analytes underperforming. Method quantification limits were determined as low as 0.017 ng L-1 in river water, 0.044 ng L-1 in wastewater, 0.008 ng g-1 in river sediment, and 0.009 ng g-1 in suspended solids. Overall, the method was successfully validated for the quantification of 64 analytes extracted from aqueous samples, and 45 from solids. The analytes that underperformed are considered on a semi-quantitative basis, including aminoglycosides and carbapenems. The method was applied to both solid and liquid environmental matrices, whereby several Antibiotics and their metabolites were quantified. The most notable antibiotic-metabolite pairs are three sulfonamides and their N-acetyl metabolites; four macrolides/lincomycins and their N-desmethyl metabolites; and five Quinolone metabolites.

Keywords

Antibiotic; Liquid chromatography; Mass spectrometry; Metabolite; Wastewater-based epidemiology; Water fingerprinting.

Figures
Products