A Novel Stability Indicating High Performance Liquid Chromatography Method for Lysergic Acid Diethylamide...

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Pharmacology
• Forensic Science

Background:

• Microdosing lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) shows therapeutic potential, necessitating reliable quantification and stability assessment.
• Current analytical methods for LSD microdosing lack high throughput and speed, posing challenges for research and safety.
• Accurate LSD quantification is vital for both pharmaceutical development and assessing illicitly sourced microdosing products.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a robust, stability-indicating, isocratic reverse-phase-high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method for precise LSD quantification.
• To ensure the developed method can separate LSD from its primary degradation product, iso-LSD.
• To validate the method according to International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines for reliable analytical performance.

Main Methods:

• Development of an isocratic RP-HPLC method for LSD quantification.
• Validation of the method for specificity, linearity, accuracy, precision, LOD, LOQ, and robustness under ICH guidelines.
• Application of the method to analyze LSD content in community-sourced illicit microdosing samples.

Main Results:

• A robust and stability-indicating RP-HPLC method for accurate LSD quantification was successfully developed.
• The method demonstrated high specificity, separating LSD from its degradation product, iso-LSD.
• Analysis of illicit microdosing samples revealed significant discrepancies between estimated and actual LSD concentrations, indicating potential risks to users.

Conclusions:

• The developed RP-HPLC method provides accurate and precise quantification of LSD, essential for quality control in pharmaceutical and illicit formulations.
• The method's ability to detect LSD in the presence of degradants ensures reliability under various stress conditions.
• Findings underscore the critical need for reliable analytical methods to ensure the safety and quality of LSD microdosing products, particularly those sourced illicitly.