Behaviour of hygrine and cuscohygrine in illicit cocaine production establishes their use as markers for chewing coca leaves in contrast with cocaine abuse

Evaluation of an Oral Fluid Collection Device and a Solid-Phase Extraction Method for the Determination of Coca Leaf Alkaloids by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

Some South American countries have ancient traditions that may pose legal problems, such as the consumption of coca leaves, as this can provide positive results for cocaine use after the analysis of biological samples. For this reason, it is necessary to find specific markers that help differentiate legal from illegal consumption, such as tropacocaine, cinnamoylcocaine, and especially hygrine and cuscohygrine. In this work, two techniques for collecting biological samples are compared: the Quantisal® Oral Fluid collection device and passive drooling. Once the samples were collected, they were subjected to solid-phase extraction for subsequent injection into GC-MS. Different validation parameters included in international guides have been studied to evaluate whether the proposed method is valid for the defined purpose, placing special emphasis on the study of the matrix effect and little value on GC-MS analyses. With respect to this parameter, an increase in the signal was found for CUS and t-CIN, but it was not significant for the rest of the substances studied. The recoveries have varied significantly depending on the way of working, being higher when working with standardized areas. After carrying out work with the oral fluid samples collected from laboratory volunteers, the method was applied to two real samples. The results obtained support the need for further research to overcome certain limitations presented by the device.

Detection of coca alkaloids in oral fluid from coca leaf (tea) consumers: using solid phase extraction to improve validation parameters and widen the detection window

Hygrine and cuscohygrine, two coca leaf alkaloids, have been previously proposed as markers to differentiate legal and illegal cocaine consumption. This is a very common problem in some countries of South America, where the consumption of coca leaves has a long tradition. Analytical methods focusing on the assessment of coca leaf alkaloids, such as cuscohygrine, hygrine, tropacocaine and t-cinnamoylcocaine, in oral fluid are virtually non-existent in forensic toxicology laboratories worldwide due to their lack of application. However, the problem of differentiating legal and illegal cocaine use in criminal justice, DUID (drug-impaired driving) and WDT (workplace drug testing) programs is growing. Therefore, researchers are obliged to develop methods to measure coca leaf alkaloids (cuscohygrine, hygrine and t-cinnamoylcocaine) in biological matrices for further validation for routine analyses in forensic toxicology laboratories. This work aims to optimize a previously published separation method by protein precipitation in oral fluid by using solid-phase extraction (SPE) coupled with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) operating in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. The use of SPE allowed the matrix effect and the background to be reduced in the chromatograms due to the obtained cleaner extracts. Consequently, improved detection and quantification limits were reached. Findings showed that the detection windows for coca leaf alkaloids were longer than three hours in real oral fluid samples from volunteers who drank a cup of coca tea. These detection windows are quite higher than those previously obtained when using the method based on separation by protein precipitation.

Impurities, adulterants and cutting agents in cocaine as potential candidates for retrospective mining of GC-MS data

Cocaine is one of the most widely used illicit drugs worldwide. Cocaine powders seized by the Police may contain numerous other substances besides the drug itself. These can be impurities originating from the coca plant or the production process, or be purposely added to the drug formulation as adulterants and cutting agents. In forensic laboratories, identification of cocaine is routinely done through GC-MS analysis, but other components are often ignored even if the method allows for their detection. Yet, they can provide valuable insight into the history of a seizure and its potential connection to other samples. To explore this idea, an extensive review of common impurities and adulterants encountered in cocaine is presented. Based on their incidence, concentration in the end product and compatibility with GC-MS methods, their overall usefulness as candidates for the statistical investigation of existing forensic data is evaluated. The impurities cis- and trans-cinnamoylcocaine, tropacocaine, norcocaine and N-benzoylnormethylecgonine as well as the adulterants lidocaine, procaine, tetracaine, benzocaine, caffeine, acetylsalicylic acid, phenacetin, ibuprofen, levamisole, hydroxyzine and diltiazem are promising candidates to provide additional forensic intelligence. Future research on optimized routine GC-MS methods, signal reproducibility, comparison, statistics and databases is suggested to facilitate this concept. Ultimately, such an approach may significantly advance the amount of information that is extracted from routine casework data, elucidate developments in the cocaine markets in the past and facilitate Police work in the future. Preliminary assessment of existing data from the forensic laboratory of the Amsterdam Police has been included to show that the detection of the identified target impurities is feasible, and that small adjustments to the analysis method could significantly increase the detectability of these analytes in prospective drug screenings. Forensic intelligence based on retrospective data mining of cocaine containing casework samples may thus be realized with minimal additional laboratory efforts by using already available instrumentation, samples and data.

Reckoning γ-Glutamyl-S-allylcysteine as a potential main protease (mpro) inhibitor of novel SARS-CoV-2 virus identified using docking and molecular dynamics simulation

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19), outbreak was first reported in December 2019 in the Wuhan, China. COVID-19 managed to spread worldwide and so far more than 9.1 million cases and more than 4.7 lakh death has been reported globally. Children, pregnant women, elderly population, immunocompromised patients, and patients with conditions like asthma, diabetes, etc. are highly vulnerable to COVID infection. Currently, there is no treatment available for COVID-19 infection. Traditional medicinal plants have provided bioactive molecules in the past that are efficiently used during conditions like cancer, malaria, microbial infections, immune-compromised states, etc. AYUSH India has recommended the use of Curcuma longa, Allium sativum, Ocimum tenuiflorum, and Withania somnifera for immune-boosting during SARS-CoV-2 infection. In the present study, we investigated the potential of 63-major bioactive molecules of these plants against SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) through docking studies and compared the results with known inhibitor 11a. Our results proposed cuscohygrine, γ-Glutamyl-S-allylcysteine, anahygrine, and S-allylcystein as the potent inhibitors against Mpro identified using molecular docking and molecular simulation dynamics. Interestingly, these molecules are from A. sativum, and W. somnifera, which are known for their antimicrobial and immunomodulatory potential. None of the proposed molecules have earlier been reported as antiviral molecules. Our results predict very strong potential of these four-molecules against SARS-CoV-2 Mpro, especially γ-glutamyl-S-allylcysteine, as all four form hydrogen bonding with Glu166 that is a crucial residue for the formation of the biologically active dimeric form of Mpro. Therefore, we strongly recommend further research on these biomolecules against SARS-CoV-2.

Interpol review of controlled substances 2016-2019

This review paper covers the forensic-relevant literature in controlled substances from 2016 to 2019 as a part of the 19th Interpol International Forensic Science Managers Symposium. The review papers are also available at the Interpol website at: https://www.interpol.int/content/download/14458/file/Interpol%20Review%20Papers%202019.pdf.

Computational insight to putative anti-acetylcholinesterase activity of Commiphora myrrha (Nees), Engler, Burseraceae: a lessen of archaeopharmacology from Mesopotamian Medicine I

Commiphora spp., Burseraceae family and their resinous matter, myrrh, are used in Mesopotamian medicine as fragrance or antiinsectant. Based on in vitro, leaves, bark, and resin methyl alcohol extract of C. myrrha showed similar inhibitory effects of 17.00, 26.00, and 29.33% for acetylcholinesterase (AChE) as compared to eserine, respectively. The ADMET properties and putative anticholinesterase activity of phytochemicals of myrrh were computationally predicted using in silico tools. Phytochemicals of C. myrrha had acceptable binding affinity (BA) towards principal sites of AChE ranging from - 5.8 (m-cresol) to - 10.5 (abietic acid) kcal/mol. In this regard, all terpenoid compounds (25 out of 28) of myrrh were dual inhibitors since they hydrophobically interacted with both catalytic triad and peripheral anionic site (PAS) of AChE while alpha-terpineol, elemol, and eugenol employed hydrogen bonds with AChE. Cuscohygrine as a pyrrolidine alkaloid has been docked with AChE through hydrogen bonds with PAS and through hydrophobic interactions with catalytic triad thereby we initially proposed it as dual inhibitor of AChE. M-cresol as a methylphenol has been loosely docked with AChE via hydrogen bond and would be a hit molecule for further drug synthesis. This study not only confirmed archaeopharmacological applications of myrrh as antiinsectant or nootropics but also offered an array of terpenoid compounds, cuscohygrine, and m-cresol as a good starting point for hit-to-lead-to-drug optimization phase in synthesis of phyto-nootropics and ecofriendly insecticides.

Development of a Reliable Method for Assessing Coca Alkaloids in Oral Fluid by HPLC-MS-MS

A reliable method based on high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry has been developed for the assessment of coca alkaloids/metabolites [cocaine (COC), benzoylecgonine (BE), cocaethylene (CE), ecgonine methyl ester (EME), anhydroecgonine methyl ester (AEME), tropococaine (TRO), transcinnamoylcocaine (trCIN), cuscohygrine (CUS) and hygrine (HYG)] in oral fluid samples from cocaine abusers and from coca leaves consumers (coca leaves chewers and coca tea drinkers). Oral fluid samples were collected by the passive drool technique (spitting), and after centrifugation the supernatant was treated for protein removal by adding acidified acetonitrile. The developed method was fully validated according to the international criteria and good results have been obtained (intraday and inter-day precisions were lower than ±20%, intraday and inter day accuracy was within the 75-116% range, and LODs/LOQs was lower and close to cut-off values for COC and BE). The proposed method has been successfully applied to oral fluid samples from cocaine abusers, and also from coca leave chewers and coca tea drinkers. CUS and HYG were only found in oral fluid from people who chewed coca leaves and drank coca tea and were not detected in cocaine abusers. Both CUS and HYG could be good markers in oral fluid for distinguishing people who consume coca leaves legally (coca leave chewers and coca tea drinkers) from those who consume illegal cocaine.