Selected Ion Flow Tube-Mass Spectrometry (SIFT-MS) as an Alternative to Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) for the Analysis of Cyclohexanone and Cyclohexanol in Plasma

Self-poisoning with professional agricultural pesticide products is responsible for about 20% of global suicide, with most cases occurring in South Asia and China. Treatment of severe poisoning involves long-term intensive clinical care and is often unsuccessful. Solvent co-formulants (such as cyclohexanone) also contribute to mortality themselves or via more toxic metabolic products (such as cyclohexanol). Faster detection of co-formulants could aid earlier identification of pesticide poisoning and faster intervention, reducing mortality. Conventional analysis of volatiles in blood uses headspace (HS)-GC/MS. This paper evaluates SIFT-MS, a direct MS technique that provides higher sample throughput than GC/MS, as a potential tool for cyclohexanone and cyclohexanol analysis in plasma. Both instruments were calibrated using a conventional approach prior to analysis of each porcine plasma sample on both instruments. Comparative data were evaluated using Bland-Altman plots, demonstrating that the techniques were in good agreement. Compared with GC/MS, SIFT-MS provides fourfold higher sample throughput and shows great promise as an alternative analytical tool.