1
|
DeFreitas L, Fonseca Pego AM, Kronstrand R, Lendoiro E, de Castro-Ríos A, Concheiro M. Fast and Sensitive Method for the Determination of 17 Designer Benzodiazepines in Hair by Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry. J Anal Toxicol 2022; 46:852-859. [PMID: 35748814 DOI: 10.1093/jat/bkac044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2022] [Revised: 05/20/2022] [Accepted: 06/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
In recent years, identification and analysis of designer benzodiazepines have become a challenge in forensic toxicology. These substances are analogues of the classic benzodiazepines, but their pharmacology is not well known, and many of them have been associated with overdoses and deaths. As a result, there has been a surge in efforts to develop analytical methods to determine these compounds in different biological samples. Our aim was to develop and validate a fast, sensitive, and specific method for determining 17 designer benzodiazepines (adinazolam, clobazam, clonazolam, delorazepam, deschloroetizolam, diclazepam, etizolam, flualprazolam, flubromazepam, flubromazolam, flunitrazolam, N-desmethylclobazam, nifoxipam, nitrazolam, meclonazepam, pyrazolam and zolazepam) in hair by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS). Hair samples were decontaminated, pulverized, and a 20-mg aliquot was incubated in methanol in an ultrasound bath (1h, 25ºC). The supernatant was evaporated and reconstituted in 200 µL of mobile phase, and the extracts were filtered (nano-filter vials) before injection into LC-MS-MS. All analytes eluted from the chromatographic column in 8 min, and two multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) transitions were used to identify each compound. The limits of quantification were 5 or 25 pg/mg, depending on the analyte, and calibration functions were linear to 200 pg/mg. Imprecision was <19.2% (n = 15) and bias was from -13.7 up to 18.3% (n = 15). All the analytes yielded high extraction efficiencies >70%, and displayed ion suppression between -62.8% and -23.9% (n = 10). The method was applied to 19 authentic cases. Five samples were positive for flualprazolam (<LOQ - >200 pg/mg) and/or etizolam (47.4-88.5 pg/mg). In conclusion, the present validated method has proven to be fast, sensitive, specific, and capable of determining 17 designer benzodiazepines in hair using LC-MS-MS.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Laura DeFreitas
- Department of Sciences, John Jay College of Criminal Justices, City University of New York, NY.,Biomarkers Core Laboratory, Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY
| | - Ana Miguel Fonseca Pego
- Department of Sciences, John Jay College of Criminal Justices, City University of New York, NY
| | - Robert Kronstrand
- Department of Forensic Genetics and Forensic Toxicology, National Board of Forensic Medicine, Linköping, Sweden.,Division of Clinical Chemistry and Pharmacology, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Elena Lendoiro
- Sección de Toxicología, Instituto de Ciencias Forenses, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Ana de Castro-Ríos
- Sección de Toxicología, Instituto de Ciencias Forenses, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Marta Concheiro
- Department of Sciences, John Jay College of Criminal Justices, City University of New York, NY
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Rygaard K, Linnet K, Johansen SS. A Systematic Review of Metabolite-to-Drug Ratios of Pharmaceuticals in Hair for Forensic Investigations. Metabolites 2021; 11:686. [PMID: 34677401 PMCID: PMC8539361 DOI: 10.3390/metabo11100686] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2021] [Revised: 09/24/2021] [Accepted: 10/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
After ingestion, consumed drugs and their metabolites are incorporated into hair, which has a long detection window, ranging up to months. Therefore, in addition to conventional blood and urine analyses, hair analysis can provide useful information on long-term drug exposure. Meta-bolite-to-drug (MD) ratios are helpful in interpreting hair results, as they provide useful information on drug metabolism and can be used to distinguish drug use from external contamination, which is otherwise a limitation in hair analysis. Despite this, the MD ratios of a wide range of pharmaceuticals have scarcely been explored. This review aims to provide an overview of MD ratios in hair in a range of pharmaceuticals of interest to forensic toxicology, such as antipsychotic drugs, antidepressant drugs, benzodiazepines, common opiates/opioids, etc. The factors influencing the ratio were evaluated. MD ratios of 41 pharmaceuticals were reported from almost 100 studies. MD ratios below 1 were frequently reported, indicating higher concentrations of the parent pharmaceutical than of its metabolite in hair, but wide-ranging MD ratios of the majority of pharmaceuticals were found. Intra- and interindividual differences and compound properties were variables possibly contributing to this. This overview presents guidance for future comparison and evaluation of MD ratios of pharmaceuticals.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Karen Rygaard
- Section of Forensic Chemistry, Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederik V’s Vej 11, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark; (K.L.); (S.S.J.)
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
3
|
Sasaki K, Shima N, Kamata T, Ishikawa A, Nitta A, Wada M, Nakano-Fujii S, Kakehashi H, Sato T, Katagi M. Incorporation of five common hypnotics into hair after a single dose and application to a forensic case of drug facilitated crimes. Forensic Sci Int 2021; 325:110881. [PMID: 34237583 DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2021.110881] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2021] [Revised: 06/14/2021] [Accepted: 06/15/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
In order to obtain fundamental information on the disposition of hypnotics into hair after a single oral dose the quantitative hair analysis of triazolam (TZ), etizolam (EZ), flunitrazepam (FNZ), nitrazepam (NZ) and zolpidem (ZP) have been performed using a validated LC-MS/MS procedure. Hair specimens (straight, black) were collected from three subjects about one month and three months after a single 0.25 mg dose of TZ, 1 mg of EZ, 2 mg of FNZ, 5 mg of NZ and 10 mg of ZP tartrate. The subjects ingested just one out of five different hypnotics on each day, each of five days in turn. All ingested hypnotics have been detected in hair from each subject both one month and three months after intake, and their concentrations were in the range of 0.023-0.043 pg/hair strand (0.077-0.36 pg/mg) for TZ, 0.11-0.63 pg/hair strand (0.44-5.2 pg/mg) for EZ, 0.14-2.6 pg/hair strand (0.56-22 pg/mg) for FNZ, 0.33-1.7 pg/hair strand (1.3-17 pg/mg) for NZ and 20-40 pg/hair strand (120-270 pg/mg) for ZP. For FNZ and NZ, not only the parent drugs but also their metabolites, 7-amino-FNZ and 7-amino-NZ, were detected in the range of 2.3-9.2 pg/hair strand (9.2-82 pg/mg) and 2.4-9.1 pg/hair strand (8.0-55 pg/mg), respectively. The calculated incorporation ratios into hair against the dose were found to exhibit similarity between the four benzodiazepines. This finding suggests the ability to apply these quantitative data to approximately estimating the amounts of other benzodiazepines, which have similar chemical structures, in hair although it should be noted that the amounts of drugs in hair varies considerably depending on the hair color. On the other hand, the incorporation ratio of ZP showed 15-29 times higher than that of TZ, indicating that lipophilic ZP was more likely to incorporate into hair than benzodiazepines. In addition, the application of the present data to a drug-facilitated sexual assault was shown.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Keiko Sasaki
- Forensic Science Laboratory, Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters, 1-3-18 Hommachi, Chuo-ku, Osaka 541-0053, Japan.
| | - Noriaki Shima
- Forensic Science Laboratory, Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters, 1-3-18 Hommachi, Chuo-ku, Osaka 541-0053, Japan
| | - Tooru Kamata
- Forensic Science Laboratory, Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters, 1-3-18 Hommachi, Chuo-ku, Osaka 541-0053, Japan
| | - Akari Ishikawa
- Forensic Science Laboratory, Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters, 1-3-18 Hommachi, Chuo-ku, Osaka 541-0053, Japan
| | - Atsushi Nitta
- Forensic Science Laboratory, Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters, 1-3-18 Hommachi, Chuo-ku, Osaka 541-0053, Japan
| | - Misato Wada
- Forensic Science Laboratory, Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters, 1-3-18 Hommachi, Chuo-ku, Osaka 541-0053, Japan
| | - Shihoko Nakano-Fujii
- Forensic Science Laboratory, Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters, 1-3-18 Hommachi, Chuo-ku, Osaka 541-0053, Japan
| | - Hidenao Kakehashi
- Forensic Science Laboratory, Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters, 1-3-18 Hommachi, Chuo-ku, Osaka 541-0053, Japan
| | - Takako Sato
- Division of Preventive and Social Medicine, Department of Legal Medicine, Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University, 2-7 Daigaku-machi, Takatsuki, Osaka 569-8686, Japan
| | - Munehiro Katagi
- Forensic Science Laboratory, Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters, 1-3-18 Hommachi, Chuo-ku, Osaka 541-0053, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Han X, Cheng FJ, Di B, Xu H, Song M, Hang TJ, Lu YT. Identification and characterization of new impurities in zopiclone tablets by LC-QTOF-MS. J Pharm Biomed Anal 2021; 199:114056. [PMID: 33831736 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpba.2021.114056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2021] [Revised: 03/29/2021] [Accepted: 03/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Zopiclone, a non-benzodiazepine hypnotic, is the first-line treatment for insomnia. The quality and stability of zopiclone tablets directly affects its efficacy and safety. However, the impurity investigation in zopiclone tablets remain incomplete. In this study, the accelerated and long-term stabilities of zopiclone tablets, as well as the stability characteristics under thermal and photolytic conditions were evaluated according to the ICH guidelines. In addition, a sensitive and specific LC-QTOF-MS method was developed for the separation and identification of all the impurities in zopiclone tablets and its stability test samples. Nine impurities were found in the test samples, five among them have not been reported before. Based on the accurate mass and elemental compositions of the parent and product ions obtained, the structures of all the detected impurities were identified. Combined with the formulation composition analysis and stability studies, the origins and the formation mechanisms of these impurities were elucidated. The obtained results are useful for the establishment of the optimum formulation, storage condition, manufacturing processes and quality control of zopiclone tablets.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xing Han
- China National Narcotics Control Commission-China Pharmaceutical University Joint Laboratory on Key Technologies of Narcotics Control, China; Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, China
| | - Fang-Jie Cheng
- China National Narcotics Control Commission-China Pharmaceutical University Joint Laboratory on Key Technologies of Narcotics Control, China; Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, China
| | - Bin Di
- China National Narcotics Control Commission-China Pharmaceutical University Joint Laboratory on Key Technologies of Narcotics Control, China; Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, China
| | - Hui Xu
- China National Narcotics Control Commission-China Pharmaceutical University Joint Laboratory on Key Technologies of Narcotics Control, China
| | - Min Song
- China National Narcotics Control Commission-China Pharmaceutical University Joint Laboratory on Key Technologies of Narcotics Control, China; Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, China
| | - Tai-Jun Hang
- China National Narcotics Control Commission-China Pharmaceutical University Joint Laboratory on Key Technologies of Narcotics Control, China; Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, China.
| | - Yu-Ting Lu
- China National Narcotics Control Commission-China Pharmaceutical University Joint Laboratory on Key Technologies of Narcotics Control, China; Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, China.
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Johansen SS, Dang LTVL, Nielsen MKK, Haage P, Kugelberg FC, Kronstrand R. Temporal patterns of tramadol in hair after a single dose. Forensic Sci Int 2020; 316:110546. [DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2020.110546] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2020] [Revised: 10/07/2020] [Accepted: 10/10/2020] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
|