SPE-HPLC-MS/MS method for the trace analysis of tobacco-specific N-nitrosamines and 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol in rabbit plasma using tetraazacalix[2]arene[2]triazine-modified silica as a sorbent

Tobacco-specific N-nitrosamines (TSNAs), including N-nitrosonornicotine, 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone, N-nitrosoanatabine, and N-nitrosoanabasine, have been implicated as a source of carcinogenicity in tobacco and cigarette smoke. We present a rapid and effective method comprising SPE based on tetraazacalix[2]arene[2]triazine-modified silica as sorbent and analysis with HPLC-MS/MS for the determination of TSNAs and 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL), a metabolite of 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone, in rabbit plasma. The linear dynamic ranges were 10-2000 pg/mL for NNAL and 4-2000 pg/mL for the four TSNAs with good correlation coefficients (>0.9965). The LODs were in the range of 0.9-3.7 pg/mL, and the LOQs were between 2.9 and 12.3 pg/mL. The accuracies of the method were also evaluated and found to be in the range of 90.1-113.3%. This method is promising to be applied to the preconcentration and determination of TSNAs and NNAL in smoke and human body fluids.