Determination of famprofazone, amphetamine and methamphetamine in liver samples using enzymatic cell dispersion and SPE-LC-ESI-MS.

The use of small amounts of sample presents advantages in chromatographic analyses that have made this a current trend following the development of increasingly sensitive analytical techniques. Biological sample preparation methods, especially for rigid or semi-rigid matrices, are also under constant development, focusing on a more efficient extraction and in obtaining cleaner residues for analysis. In this context, the aim of this study was to present a validated a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method for the quantification of famprofazone and its metabolites, methamphetamine and amphetamine in liver, using enzymatic cell dispersion promoted by collagenase, followed by protein precipitation and solid phase extraction (SPE) for sample extraction, concentration and clean-up.

Human adaptative behavior to Antarctic conditions: A review of physiological aspects.

The Antarctic environment induces adaptive metabolic and neuroendocrine changes associated with survival, as well as increased risks to physical and mental health. Circadian disruption has been observed in Antarctic expeditioners. The main consequences appear in quality of sleep, which can affect physical and cognitive performance.

Simultaneous determination of alpha-, beta- and gamma-hydroxybutyric acids in micro-pulverized human hair by GC-MS: Method development, validation and application.

An analytical method was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of alpha, beta and gamma-hydroxybutyric acids (AHB, BHB and GHB, respectively) in human hair. Hair samples (10 mg) were pulverized and submitted to extraction using methanol (1 mL) for 10 min. The extract was centrifuged, filtered, and evaporated to dryness at 40 °C under a gentle N flow, dissolved in ethyl acetate (0.

Postmortem analysis of famprofazone and its metabolites, methamphetamine and amphetamine, in porcine bone marrow.

Forensic toxicologists typically work with body fluids, such as blood and urine, or visceral tissues. The analysis of alternative samples, such as bone marrow, can be requested when the commonly used samples are unavailable due to an extended time lapse between the time of death and collection of the material to be analysed. In this study, a method for the analysis of the lipophilic drug famprofazone (FA) and its metabolites, methamphetamine (MA) and amphetamine (AM), in bone marrow was developed, validated and applied to bone marrow from pigs given controlled doses of famprofazone.

Particle-size distribution (PSD) of pulverized hair: A quantitative approach of milling efficiency and its correlation with drug extraction efficiency.

Different types of hair were submitted to different milling procedures and their resulting powders were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and laser diffraction (LD). SEM results were qualitative whereas LD results were quantitative and accurately characterized the hair powders through their particle size distribution (PSD). Different types of hair were submitted to an optimized milling conditions and their PSD was quite similar.

Validation of a SPE-LC-MS/MS method for the determination of ketamine and norketamine in micropulverized hair after a single IV dose.

A SPE-LC-MS/MS method for the determination of ketamine (KET) and norketamine (NKET) was developed and validated. Extensive pulverization (25min at 25Hz) of previously cooled samples (5min in liquid nitrogen) allowed for extraction in a phosphate buffer (pH 6) solution after 10min vortex agitation at room temperature, simplifying the coupling of the extraction to an effective mixed-mode SPE (solid phase extraction) clean-up procedure. The extraction optimization was performed with samples fortified by drug incorporation according to a published procedure involving incubation of blank matrices for 16days.

Validation of an ELISA Synthetic Cannabinoids Urine Assay.

Background: Synthetic cannabinoids are touted as legal alternatives to cannabis, at least when first released, and routine urine cannabinoid screening methods do not detect these novel psychoactive substances. Synthetic cannabinoids are widely available, are a major public health and safety problem, and a difficult challenge for drug-testing laboratories. We evaluated performance of the National Medical Services (NMS) JWH-018 direct enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit to sensitively, selectively, and rapidly screen urinary synthetic cannabinoids.

Fast and sensitive collagen quantification by alkaline hydrolysis/hydroxyproline assay.

A preparative protein alkaline hydrolysis procedure, as part of a spectrophotometric collagen quantification method, is presented. The procedure is suitable for small amounts of fresh solid or liquid samples. Various aspects of the procedure, such as the NaOH concentration, time needed to hydrolyse different collagen contents, buffer strength of the reagent solution, pH control of the hydrolysate and spectrophotometric conditions, were evaluated.

Performance characteristics of an ELISA screening assay for urinary synthetic cannabinoids.

Synthetic cannabinoids are marketed as legal alternatives to cannabis, as routine urine cannabinoid immunoassays do not detect synthetic cannabinoids. Laboratories are challenged to identify these new designer drugs that are widely available and represent a major public health and safety problem. Immunoassay testing offers rapid separation of presumptive positive and negative specimens, prior to more costly and time-consuming chromatographic confirmation.

Evaluation of a homogenous enzyme immunoassay for the detection of synthetic cannabinoids in urine.

Introduction: The recent emergence and widespread availability of many new synthetic cannabinoids support the need for an accurate and high-throughput urine screen for these new designer drugs. We evaluated performance of the immunalysis homogeneous enzyme immunoassay (HEIA) to sensitively, selectively, and rapidly identify urinary synthetic cannabinoids.

Methods: 2443 authentic urine samples were analyzed with the HEIA that targets JWH-018 N-pentanoic acid, and a validated LC-MS/MS method for 29 synthetic cannabinoids and metabolites.