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Li X, Jiang L, Di B, Hu C. Preparation of amphiphilic poly(divinylbenzene- co-N-vinylpyrrolidone)-functionalized polydopamine magnetic nanoadsorbents for enrichment of synthetic cannabinoids in wastewater. ANALYTICAL METHODS : ADVANCING METHODS AND APPLICATIONS 2024; 16:3968-3982. [PMID: 38853581 DOI: 10.1039/d4ay00711e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2024]
Abstract
Concerns have been raised about synthetic cannabinoids (SCs), which are among the most often trafficked and used illegal substances. An analytical method that holds promise for determining illicit drug use in the general population is wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE). Unfortunately, the concentration of SCs in wastewater is often extremely low on account of their hydrophobic nature, thus presenting a significant obstacle to the accurate detection and quantification of SCs using WBE. In this study, we present novel magnetic nanomaterials as amphiphilic adsorbents for pretreatment of wastewater using magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE). Polydopamine-modified Fe3O4 nanoparticles were used as the magnetic core and further functionalized with poly(divinylbenzene-N-vinylpyrrolidone). Coupled with UHPLC-MS/MS analysis, an analytical method to simultaneously detect nine SCs at trace-levels in wastewater was developed and validated, enriching 50 mL wastewater to 100 μL with limits of detection (LOD) being 0.005-0.5 ng L-1, limits of quantification (LOQ) being 0.01-1.0 ng L-1, recoveries ranging from 73.99 to 110.72%, and the intra- and inter-day precision's relative standard deviations less than 15%. In comparison to the time-consuming conventional column-based solid phase extraction, the entire MSPE procedure from sample pre-treatment to data acquisition could be finished in one hour, thus largely facilitating the WBE method for drug surveillance and control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiuchen Li
- Department of Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, No. 24 Tongjiaxiang Road, Nanjing 210009, PR China.
- China National Narcotics Control Commission-China Pharmaceutical University Joint Laboratory on Key Technologies of Narcotics Control, No. 24 Tongjiaxiang Road, Nanjing 210009, PR China
| | - Le Jiang
- Department of Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, No. 24 Tongjiaxiang Road, Nanjing 210009, PR China.
- China National Narcotics Control Commission-China Pharmaceutical University Joint Laboratory on Key Technologies of Narcotics Control, No. 24 Tongjiaxiang Road, Nanjing 210009, PR China
| | - Bin Di
- Department of Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, No. 24 Tongjiaxiang Road, Nanjing 210009, PR China.
- China National Narcotics Control Commission-China Pharmaceutical University Joint Laboratory on Key Technologies of Narcotics Control, No. 24 Tongjiaxiang Road, Nanjing 210009, PR China
| | - Chi Hu
- Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, China Pharmaceutical University, No. 24 Tongjiaxiang Road, Nanjing 210009, PR China.
- China National Narcotics Control Commission-China Pharmaceutical University Joint Laboratory on Key Technologies of Narcotics Control, No. 24 Tongjiaxiang Road, Nanjing 210009, PR China
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Fabris AL, Martins AF, Costa JL, Yonamine M. A new application of the switchable hydrophilicity solvent-based homogenous liquid-liquid microextraction to analyze synthetic cannabinoids in plasma by LC-MS/MS. J Pharm Biomed Anal 2023; 234:115588. [PMID: 37517261 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpba.2023.115588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Revised: 07/05/2023] [Accepted: 07/14/2023] [Indexed: 08/01/2023]
Abstract
Synthetic cannabinoids are still a growing trend among drug users and consist of a group of hundreds of highly potent compounds. To investigate the use of such substances, sample preparation of biological matrices is a crucial step prior to instrumental analysis. Although different efficient extraction techniques have been proposed for that aim, they usually do not fit eco-friendly guidelines that have been gaining popularity in recent years, such as Green Analytical Toxicology. This work uses describes for the first time the use of switchable hydrophilicity solvent-based homogenous liquid-liquid microextraction (SHS-HLLME) for synthetic cannabinoids. This is a green technique that replaces highly toxic organic reagents for switchable hydrophilicity solvents (SHS), substances that can be either water-miscible or immiscible depending on their protonation. Thus, by simply adjusting the pH of the system, these SHS can be used as extraction solvents. A full optimization study including type of SHS, volume of protonated SHS, volume of NaOH, salting-out effect, and extraction time was performed. The optimized procedure consisted of precipitating the proteins of 300 µL of plasma with 300 µL of acetonitrile followed by centrifugation; evaporation of the organic solvent under N2 stream; addition of 500 µL of the protonated DPA, DPA-HCl (6 M) (1:1, v/v); addition of 500 µL of NaOH (10 M); and finally centrifugation and evaporation. Validation results showed determination coefficients ≥ 0.99 for the 0.1-10 ng/mL linear range; 0.01-0.08 ng/mL as limit of detection; 0.1 ng/mL as limit of quantitation; accuracy and imprecision were within acceptable ranges; matrix effect, recovery, and process efficiency ranged from -55.6 to 185.9%, 36-56.7%, and 18.5-148.4%, respectively. The SHS-HLLME herein described was fully optimized providing satisfactory recoveries of 31 synthetic cannabinoids at low concentrations requiring only 300 µL of plasma. In addition, the validation results showed that the technique is a reliable eco-friendly alternative for clinical and toxicological analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- André Luis Fabris
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP 05508-000, Brazil.
| | - Aline Franco Martins
- Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Campinas, Campinas, SP 13083-859, Brazil; Campinas Poison Control Center, University of Campinas, Campinas, SP 13083-859, Brazil
| | - Jose Luiz Costa
- Campinas Poison Control Center, University of Campinas, Campinas, SP 13083-859, Brazil; Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Campinas, Campinas, SP 13083-871, Brazil
| | - Mauricio Yonamine
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP 05508-000, Brazil
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Gao J, Xu B, Yang R, Zhang H. Screening strategy for ketamine-based new psychoactive substances using fragmentation characteristics from high resolution mass spectrometry. Forensic Sci Int 2023; 347:111677. [PMID: 37028217 DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2023.111677] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2022] [Revised: 03/29/2023] [Accepted: 04/03/2023] [Indexed: 04/08/2023]
Abstract
Recreational designer drugs called new psychoactive substances (NPS) are emerging and pose enormous risks to public health. Detection of recently discovered or unreported NPS remains a huge challenge by using traditional targeted mass spectrometry methods. Here a novel screening strategy was developed to detect both known and novel analogs of NPS based on fragmentation characteristics from liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS). The HRMS fragmentation pathway of one selected NPS family was investigated to form a database containing predicted drugs as well as their mass characteristics. During the study, an unexpected substituent effect was found to distinguish geometric isomers. Seventy-eight seized samples were analyzed using this strategy, four ketamine-based NPS were detected and three of them were newly marketed. The substituent effect predicted the position of their phenylic substituent, the results were confirmed by NMR.
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Chen S, Qie Y, Hua Z, Zhang H, Wang Y, Di B, Su M. Preparation of poly(methacrylic acid-co-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate)-functionalized magnetic polydopamine nanoparticles for the extraction of six cannabinoids in wastewater followed by UHPLC-MS/MS. Talanta 2023; 264:124752. [PMID: 37276675 DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2023.124752] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2022] [Revised: 05/19/2023] [Accepted: 05/28/2023] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Phytocannabinoids and their synthetic analogs (natural and synthetic cannabinoids) are illicit drugs that are widely abused worldwide. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is an objective approach for the estimation of population-level exposure to a wide range of substances, especially drugs of abuse. However, the concentrations of cannabinoids in wastewater are extremely low (frequently at the levels of nanograms per liter), and the existing pretreatment procedures for wastewater have the disadvantages of time-consumption or low extraction recoveries. This study aimed to propose a novel poly (methacrylic acid-co-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate)-functionalized polydopamine-coated Fe3O4 nanoparticle (Fe3O4@PDA@poly (MAA-co-EGDMA)) as an adsorbent, and provide a highly sensitive quantitative analytical technique for the detection of five synthetic cannabinoids (SCs: 5 F-EDMB-PINACA, FUB-APINACA, MDMB-4en-PINACA, MDMB-FUBINACA, and PB-22) and one cannabis-related human metabolite (THC-COOH) in wastewater. The magnetic adsorbents were fully characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), infrared spectroscopy (IR), vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Subsequently, an MSPE-UHPLC-MS/MS method was developed and validated for the determination of six trace analytes in wastewater. The validation results showed that the method has limits of quantification as low as 0.1-1.0 ng/L. Additionally, the recoveries ranged from 62.81 to 124.02%, and the relative standard deviations (RSDs) of intraday and interday precision were less than 15%. This MSPE-UHPLC-MS/MS method was successfully applied to real wastewater samples, and the whole analytical process of one sample from pretreatment to the obtained quantitative results was completed in less than 30 min. Thus, the proposed method based on Fe3O4@PDA@poly (MAA-co-EGDMA) is a convenient, rapid, sensitive and reliable method for the determination of trace psychoactive drugs in wastewater.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simin Chen
- Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, 210009, China; China National Narcotics Control Commission - China Pharmaceutical University Joint Laboratory on Key Technologies of Narcotics Control, Nanjing, 210009, China
| | - Yiqi Qie
- Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, 210009, China; China National Narcotics Control Commission - China Pharmaceutical University Joint Laboratory on Key Technologies of Narcotics Control, Nanjing, 210009, China
| | - Zhendong Hua
- China National Narcotics Control Commission - China Pharmaceutical University Joint Laboratory on Key Technologies of Narcotics Control, Nanjing, 210009, China; Key Laboratory of Drug Monitoring and Control, Drug Intelligence and Forensic Center, Ministry of Public Security, Beijing, 100741, China
| | - Haoyue Zhang
- Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, 210009, China; China National Narcotics Control Commission - China Pharmaceutical University Joint Laboratory on Key Technologies of Narcotics Control, Nanjing, 210009, China
| | - Youmei Wang
- China National Narcotics Control Commission - China Pharmaceutical University Joint Laboratory on Key Technologies of Narcotics Control, Nanjing, 210009, China; Key Laboratory of Drug Monitoring and Control, Drug Intelligence and Forensic Center, Ministry of Public Security, Beijing, 100741, China.
| | - Bin Di
- Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, 210009, China; China National Narcotics Control Commission - China Pharmaceutical University Joint Laboratory on Key Technologies of Narcotics Control, Nanjing, 210009, China.
| | - Mengxiang Su
- Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, 210009, China; China National Narcotics Control Commission - China Pharmaceutical University Joint Laboratory on Key Technologies of Narcotics Control, Nanjing, 210009, China.
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Suárez-Oubiña C, Álvarez-Freire I, Cabarcos P, Bermejo AM, Bermejo-Barrera P, Moreda-Piñeiro A. Isolation and quantification of synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists in human urine using membrane-assisted solvent extraction followed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. ANALYTICAL METHODS : ADVANCING METHODS AND APPLICATIONS 2023; 15:333-342. [PMID: 36594640 DOI: 10.1039/d2ay01491b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
The global market for new psychoactive substances (NPSs) continues to expand, and the range of drugs available on the market has probably never been wider. Synthetic cannabinoids (SCRAs) constitute the largest family of NPSs, and they go unnoticed during illicit drug market control and during routine toxicological-forensic analysis. Membrane-assisted solvent extraction (MASE) has been a novelty proposed for the simultaneous extraction of SCRAs, and urine has been selected as a model forensic-clinical sample. Isolated SCRAs were further determined by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). An optimised sample pre-treatment procedure consists of using 400 μL of n-hexane as an extraction phase placed inside a polypropylene (PP) membrane, adjusting the donor phase (urine) at a pH value of 5.9. Extraction was assisted by mechanical (orbital-horizontal) stirring in a temperature-controlled chamber at room temperature for 20 min. n-Hexane extracts were evaporated to dryness and re-suspended in 100 μL of mobile phase, which leads to a pre-concentration factor of 50. Method validation showed analytical recoveries higher than 80% for most SCRAs and repeatability (inter-day and intra-day assays) with RSD values lower than 20%. The proposed method was found to be selective and sensitive and limits of quantification (LOQs) between 0.10 and 1.0 μg L-1 were achieved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristian Suárez-Oubiña
- Trace Element, Spectroscopy and Speciation Group (GETEE), Institute of Materials iMATUS, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Nutrition and Bromatology, Faculty of Chemistry, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Avenida das Ciencias, s/n, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
| | - Iván Álvarez-Freire
- Forensic Sciences Institute "Luís Concheiro" (INCIFOR), Department of Pathologic Anatomy and Forensic Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Rúa de San Francisco, s/n, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Pamela Cabarcos
- Forensic Sciences Institute "Luís Concheiro" (INCIFOR), Department of Pathologic Anatomy and Forensic Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Rúa de San Francisco, s/n, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Ana María Bermejo
- Forensic Sciences Institute "Luís Concheiro" (INCIFOR), Department of Pathologic Anatomy and Forensic Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Rúa de San Francisco, s/n, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Pilar Bermejo-Barrera
- Trace Element, Spectroscopy and Speciation Group (GETEE), Institute of Materials iMATUS, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Nutrition and Bromatology, Faculty of Chemistry, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Avenida das Ciencias, s/n, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
| | - Antonio Moreda-Piñeiro
- Trace Element, Spectroscopy and Speciation Group (GETEE), Institute of Materials iMATUS, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Nutrition and Bromatology, Faculty of Chemistry, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Avenida das Ciencias, s/n, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
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Nieddu M, Baralla E, Sodano F, Boatto G. Analysis of 2,5-dimethoxy-amphetamines and 2,5-dimethoxy-phenethylamines aiming their determination in biological matrices: a review. Forensic Toxicol 2023; 41:1-24. [PMID: 36652064 PMCID: PMC9849320 DOI: 10.1007/s11419-022-00638-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2022] [Accepted: 08/19/2022] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE The present review aims to provide an overview of methods for the quantification of 2,5-dimethoxy-amphetamines and -phenethylamines in different biological matrices, both traditional and alternative ones. METHODS A complete literature search was carried out with PubMed, Scopus and the World Wide Web using relevant keywords, e.g., designer drugs, amphetamines, phenethylamines, and biological matrices. RESULTS Synthetic phenethylamines represent one of the largest classes of "designer drugs", obtained through chemical structure modifications of psychoactive substances to increase their pharmacological activities. This practice is also favored by the fact that every new synthetic compound is not considered illegal by existing legislation. Generally, in a toxicological laboratory, the first monitoring of drugs of abuse is made by rapid screening tests that sometimes can occur in false positive or false negative results. To reduce evaluation errors, it is mandatory to submit the positive samples to confirmatory methods, such as gas chromatography or liquid chromatography combined to mass spectrometry, for a more specific qualitative and quantitative analysis. CONCLUSIONS This review highlights the great need for updated comprehensive analytical methods, particularly when analyzing biological matrices, both traditional and alternative ones, for the search of newly emerging designer drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Nieddu
- Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Sassari, 07100, Sassari, Italy.
| | - Elena Baralla
- grid.11450.310000 0001 2097 9138Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy
| | - Federica Sodano
- grid.4691.a0000 0001 0790 385XDepartment of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Naples, Italy
| | - Gianpiero Boatto
- grid.11450.310000 0001 2097 9138Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy
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