Determination of sulfonamide antibiotics and metabolites in liver, muscle and kidney samples by pressurized liquid extraction or ultrasound-assisted extraction followed by liquid chromatography-quadrupole linear ion trap-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-QqLIT-MS/MS).

Sulfonamides are widely used in human and veterinary medicine. The presence of sulfonamides residues in food is an issue of great concern. Throughout the present work, a method for the targeted analysis of 16 sulfonamides and metabolites residue in liver of several species has been developed and validated. Extraction and clean-up has been statistically optimized using central composite design experiments. Two extraction methods have been developed, validated and compared: i) pressurized liquid extraction, in which samples were defatted with hexane and subsequently extracted with acetonitrile and ii) ultrasound-assisted extraction with acetonitrile and further liquid-liquid extraction with hexane. Extracts have been analyzed by liquid chromatography-quadrupole linear ion trap-tandem mass spectrometry. Validation procedure has been based on the Commission Decision 2002/657/EC and included the assessment of parameters such as decision limit (CCα), detection capability (CCβ), sensitivity, selectivity, accuracy and precision. Method׳s performance has been satisfactory, with CCα values within the range of 111.2-161.4 µg kg(-1), limits of detection of 10 µg kg(-1) and accuracy values around 100% for all compounds.