Vol.:(0123456789) SN Applied Sciences (2020) 2:1903 | https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-020-03742-7 Research Article Detection and quantifcation of antibiotic residues in urine samples of healthy individuals from rural and urban communities in Ghana using a validated SPE-LC-MS/MS method Samuel Oppong Bekoe 1  · Emmanuel Orman 2  · Samuel Asare‑Nkansah 1  · Anne Mette Lerbech Sørensen 3  · Erland Björklund 4  · Reimmel Kwame Adosraku 1  · Martin Hansen 3,5  · Bjarne Styrishave 3 Received: 27 July 2020 / Accepted: 19 October 2020 / Published online: 27 October 2020 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020, corrected publication 2020 Abstract The role of unregulated and inappropriate dispensing, and use of antibiotics remains signifcant in the development of antimicrobial resistance in infectious disease endemic regions of developing countries. The exposure to antibiotics from unfamiliar and unsuspecting sources such as drinking water and food, and adulterated herbal medicines remains a cause for concern. A sensitive SPE-LC-MS/MS method was developed and validated for the quantifcation and qualifcation of 12 antibiotics, including amoxicillin, clavulanic acid, metronidazole, ampicillin, cefuroxime, tetracycline, ceftriaxone, sul- phamethoxazole, trimethoprim, ciprofoxacin, benzylpenicillin, and erythromycin, in the urine of healthy volunteers. The method was linear (r 2 > 0.98) within the concentration range 50–5000 ngmL −1 for all the analytes. Instrument precision of 8–27% and 4–21% at 100 and 1000 ngmL −1 levels were demonstrated. High mean recoveries between 71 and 125% with minimal variations were obtained for all compounds in the accuracy study. Limits of detection and quantifcation ranged between 70.3–271.0 ngmL −1 and 213–821 ngmL −1 respectively. The validated method successfully detected and quantifed 9 of the 12 analytes, with the exception of clavulanic acid, ceftriaxone, and benzylpenicillin. Most of the samples contained one analyte (52, 86.7%), with a handful containing two (7, 11.7%) and three analytes (1, 1.7%). Ciprofoxacin was the modal analyte detected (17, 24.6%), with amoxicillin and trimethoprim recording the average lowest (22.76 × 10 3  ngmL −1 ) and highest concentrations (255.47 × 10 3  ngmL −1 ) respectively. The developed method is a useful tool for non-invasive monitoring of consumption and the irrational use of antibiotics in microbial resistant-prone regions of the world. Keywords Antibiotic residues · Antimicrobial resistance · Solid phase extraction (SPE) · Urine samples · Antibiotic exposure · LC-MS/MS method Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-020-03742-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Samuel Oppong Bekoe, sobek03@gmail.com; sobekoe.pharm@knust.edu.gh; Emmanuel Orman, eorman@uhas.edu.gh; Samuel Asare-Nkansah, asn12002@yahoo.com; Anne Mette Lerbech Sørensen, am_lerbech@hotmail.com; Erland Björklund, erland.bjorklund@ hkr.se; Reimmel Kwame Adosraku, etorwu@yahoo.com; Martin Hansen, martin.hansen@envs.au.dk; Bjarne Styrishave, bjarne.styrishave@ sund.ku.dk | 1 Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. 2 Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Ghana. 3 Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 2, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. 4 Division of Natural Sciences, School of Education and Environment, Kristianstad University, 291 88 Kristianstad, Sweden. 5 Department of Environmental Sciences—Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.