Postmortem toenail samples were used for the detection of cocaine (COC), benzoylecgonine (BZE), norcocaine (NCOC), cocaethylene (CE), morphine (MOR), 6-monoacetylmorphine (6-MAM), codeine (COD), and hydrocodone (HDC). After the toenail clippings were washed with methanol, they were solubilized in 0.1 M potassium phosphate (pH 5.0). The drugs of interest, along with internal standards, were isol...

STUDY OBJECTIVE To compare the demographics, presenting signs and symptoms, morbidity, and mortality of emergency department patients with drug screen results positive for benzoylecgonine ester (BE; a cocaine metabolite) and those positive for BE and alcohol. METHODS We carried out a retrospective cohort study, in a university-affiliated community hospital, of 190 patients positive for BE alo...

STUDY OBJECTIVE To quantitatively assess cocaine liberation from various body packet materials. DESIGN 100-milligram cocaine packets (plastic bags with various wrapping techniques, paper, and condoms) were placed in a simulated gastric medium. Samples were also tested in an alkalinized gastric medium, with determination of both cocaine and benzoylecogonine concentrations using high-performanc...

The occurrence of 25 drug target residues (illicit drugs or pharmaceutically active compounds) was investigated during 85 consecutive days in the influents of a wastewater treatment plant in the Region Centre-Val de Loire, France. This long tracking period allowed a better understanding of the patterns affecting the occurrence of this type of contaminants. Among them, 2 were never detected (i.e...

Fourteen laboratories interested in the analysis of human hair for drugs of abuse participated in a fourth interlaboratory study to determine how well drugs could be detected and quantitated in hair. The drugs of abuse included cocaine, benzoylecgonine, cocaethylene, codeine, morphine, and 6-monoacetylmorphine. The hair samples analyzed were in the form of short segments and included hair from ...

A method based on sample preparation by solid phase extraction and analysis by liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry was validated and used for simultaneous analysis of cocaine, benzoylecgonine and cotinine in samples collected at the major wastewater treatment plant in the city of Lisbon. The aim was to estimate the consumption of both cocaine and nicotine in this community and establish...

Butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) is known to metabolize cocaine in humans. In the present study, three different experiments were performed to determine whether the addition of horse serum-derived BChE would accelerate the metabolism of cocaine. In the first experiment, the addition of BChE to squirrel monkey plasma in vitro reduced the half-life of cocaine by over 80%, decreased the production of ...

The testing for drugs of abuse in hair is increasingly used to detect illicit substances. Laboratories have implemented various decontamination, or washing, procedures in order to eliminate concerns regarding potential contamination of the hair with drug from the environment. However, the effect of these decontamination procedures on drug incorporated into the hair shaft via systemic exposure i...

The detection and quantitation of drugs of abuse in blood is of growing interest in forensic and clinical toxicology. With the development of highly sensitive chromatographic methods, such as high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with sensitive detectors and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), more and more substances can be determined in blood. This review includes methods fo...

Analytical methods for measuring multiple licit and illicit drugs and metabolites in oral fluid require high sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy. With the limited volume available for testing, comprehensive methodology is needed for simultaneous measurement of multiple analytes in a single aliquot. This report describes the validation of a semi-automated method for the simultaneous extractio...