Consumer expectations, drug effects, price and purity of heroin and cocaine purchased at drug consumption rooms.

Background: Drug consumption rooms offer heroin and cocaine consumers a secure and hygienic environment including medical and social guidance. Despite the support and mentoring, only sparse information is available about how drug quality, drug prices and user expectations match at these locations. The present study reports analysis of these three parameters in two drug consumption rooms in Luxembourg.

Direct In Vivo Analysis of CBD- and THC-Acid Cannabinoids and Classification of Cannabis Cultivars Using SpiderMass.

In recent years, cannabis and hemp-based products have become increasingly popular for recreational use, edibles, beverages, health care products, and medicines. The rapid detection and differentiation of phytocannabinoids is, therefore, essential to assess the potency and the therapeutic and nutritional values of cannabis cultivars. Here, we implemented SpiderMass technology for in vivo detection of cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) and ∆-tetrahydrocannabinolicacid (∆-THCA), and other endogenous organic plant compounds, to access distribution gradients within the plants and differentiate between cultivars.

Investigation on heroin and cocaine quality in Luxembourg.

Background: Heroin and cocaine are among the most dangerous illicit drugs available and their presence on the market is increasing. These facts have led to the investigation of the quality of heroin and cocaine samples seized in Luxembourg by police and customs but also collected at the national supervised drug consumption facilities.

Methods: Samples obtained from 2019 to 2020 were analyzed to determine their composition and content using GC-MS, HPLC-UV and LC-Q-ToF.

Cooking heroin the Turkish way: chemical investigation on an unusual heroin preparation method.

Background: Reports from experienced heroin users about an alternative and appreciated but harmful so-called "Turkish" heroin preparation technic led to the chemical investigation of the compounds produced during this process and investigation of the presence of other psychoactive contaminants.

Methods: Comparison of diacetylmorphine, 6-monoacetylmorphine, morphine, paracetamol and caffeine concentrations were performed in the non-processed material, after processing according to the standard and to the alternative preparation methods using liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry followed by statistical evaluation of the results.

Results: The two preparation methods had in common a diminution of diacetylmorphine as compared to the starting material but significantly more 6-monoacetylmorphine was produced using the "Turkish" preparation method as compared to the standard method.

Purification and characterisation of the yeast plasma membrane ATP binding cassette transporter Pdr11p.

The ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporters Pdr11p and its paralog Aus1p are expressed under anaerobic growth conditions at the plasma membrane of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and are required for sterol uptake. However, the precise mechanism by which these ABC transporters facilitate sterol movement is unknown. In this study, an overexpression and purification procedure was developed with the aim to characterise the Pdr11p transporter.

Parallel reaction monitoring using quadrupole-Orbitrap mass spectrometer: Principle and applications.

Targeted mass spectrometry-based approaches are nowadays widely used for quantitative proteomics studies and more recently have been implemented on high resolution/accurate mass (HRAM) instruments resulting in a considerable performance improvement. More specifically, the parallel reaction monitoring technique (PRM) performed on quadrupole-Orbitrap mass spectrometers, leveraging the high resolution and trapping capabilities of the instrument, offers a clear advantage over the conventional selected reaction monitoring (SRM) measurements executed on triple quadrupole instruments. Analyses performed in HRAM mode allow for an improved discrimination between signals derived from analytes and those resulting from matrix interferences translating in the reliable quantification of low abundance components.

A simple protocol to routinely assess the uniformity of proteomics analyses.

Mass-spectrometry-based proteomic approaches are increasingly applied to biological and clinical studies. Initially used by specialized laboratories, the technology has matured and gained acceptance by the community, using various analytical processes and platforms. To facilitate data comparison and integration across laboratories, there is a need to harmonize analytical processes to ensure the generation of reliable proteomic data sets.

Technical considerations for large-scale parallel reaction monitoring analysis.

Unlabelled: Targeted methods have gained acceptance among proteomics community to perform quantitative experiments. However, the current reference to conduct such experiments relies on selected reaction monitoring (SRM) analyses performed on triple quadrupole mass spectrometers, although it suffers from some limitations. First, the low resolution quadrupole mass analyzers do not present enough selectivity to discriminate the analytes from interferences commonly encountered in biological samples.

Rational design of a low molecular weight, stable, potent, and long-lasting GPR103 aza-β3-pseudopeptide agonist.

26RFa, a novel RFamide neuropeptide, is the endogenous ligand of the former orphan receptor GPR103. Intracerebroventricular injection of 26RFa and its C-terminal heptapeptide, 26RFa((20-26)), stimulates food intake in rodents. To develop potent, stable ligands of GPR103 with low molecular weight, we have designed a series of aza-β(3)-containing 26RFa((20-26)) analogues for their propensity to establish intramolecular hydrogen bonds, and we have evaluated their ability to increase [Ca(2+)](i) in GPR103-transfected cells.