An improved liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric method to quantify formoterol in human urine

Formoterol is a new threshold substance in the prohibited list 2012 according to World Anti-Doping Agency. Extracted by ethyl acetate using formoterol-D6 as internal standard, formoterol underwent a constant flow rate gradient elution separation in reversed-phase liquid chromatography. Subsequently, mass spectrometry analysis was conducted by tandem mass spectrometry in the multiple reaction monitoring mode. According to the proposed method, a calibration curve was constructed in the range of 0.2-500 ng/mL (r(2) = 1) with a limit of quantification 0.2 ng/mL. The mean extracted recovery assessed at three different concentrations (1, 30 and 100 ng/mL) was more than 80%. The method was validated by the analysis of three quality control samples from World Association of Anti-Doping Scientists. In conclusion, the developed and validated method was sensitive, accurate and precise for the quantification of formoterol in human urine for doping control purposes.