Focusing on the 5F-MDMB-PICA, 4F-MDMB-BICA synthetic cannabinoids and their primary metabolites in analytical and pharmacological aspects.

Nowadays, more and more new synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) appearing on the illicit market present challenges to analytical, forensic, and toxicology experts. For a better understanding of the physiological effect of SCs, the key issue is studying their metabolomic and psychoactive properties. In this study, our validated targeted reversed phase UHPLC-MS/MS method was used for determination of urinary concentration of 5F-MDMB-PICA, 4F-MDMB-BICA, and their primary metabolites.

Clinical symptoms and blood concentration of new psychoactive substances (NPS) in intoxicated and hospitalized patients in the Budapest region of Hungary (2018-19).

Background: New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) impose a new challenge on the legal and health care system, yet, there is little information available about how new substances spread based on hospitalization of intoxicated patients. The aims of this study were: (i) to investigate the frequency of NPS among suspected drug intoxicated patients, (ii) to study the connection between blood concentration and clinical symptoms, (iii) to determine their half-life with a time-series blood sampling protocol.

Methods: During the observation period, 116 suspected drug intoxicated patients were sampled.

Analytical Methodologies for the Characterization and Analysis of the Parent Compound and Phase I Metabolites of 4F-MDMB-BICA in Human Microsome, Urine, and Blood Samples.

4F-MDMB-BICA is one of the most dangerous new illicit synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) in 2020. Consumption of 4F-MDMB-BICA has been associated with a number of death cases and related serious adverse health effects in Hungary. Therefore, the use of reliable analytical methods to confirm the intake of 4F-MDMB-BICA is an important issue in forensic practice.

Fatal intoxication of a regular drug user following N-ethyl-hexedrone and ADB-FUBINACA consumption.

In Hungary, N-ethyl-hexedrone (NEH) was the most frequently seized stimulant designer drug in 2017, while among synthetic cannabinoids ADB-FUBINACA and AB-FUBINACA were the most popular. Symptoms of intoxication by these substances are well known but less is known about the pathology of overdose-related death. NEH-induced fatal intoxication has not been described in the literature and knowledge surrounding the particular circumstances of death could be useful better public education of risk and more adequate treatment of overdose patients.

Changes in illicit, licit and stimulant designer drug use patterns in South-East Hungary between 2008 and 2015.

The aim of this work is to present the changes in classical illicit and licit drug, as well as stimulant designer drug (SDD) consumption of suspected drug users in South-East Hungary between 2008 and 2015. Urine and/or blood samples of 2976 subjects were analyzed for these groups of substances of which 1777 (59.7%) were tested positive.

The role of illicit, licit, and designer drugs in the traffic in Hungary.

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and pattern of psychoactive substances among suspected DUID (Driving Under the Influence of Drugs) drivers in Hungary in 2014 and 2015. Blood and/or urine samples of 1252 suspected drivers (600 in 2014 and 652 in 2015) were analyzed for classical illicit and licit drugs, stimulant designer drugs (SDDs), and for synthetic cannabinoids, with 78.3% and 79.

Frequency and structure of stimulant designer drug consumption among suspected drug users in Budapest and South-East Hungary in 2012-2013.

Identification of abuse and frequency patterns of stimulant designer drugs (SDDs) provides important information for their risk assessment and legislative control. In the present study urine and/or blood samples of suspected drug users in criminal cases were analysed by GC-MS for 38 SDDs, and for the most frequent illicit and psychoactive licit drugs in Hungary. Between July 2012 and June 2013, 2744 suspected drug users were sampled in Budapest and during 2012 and 2013, 774 persons were sampled in South-East Hungary (Csongrád County - neighbour the Romanian and Serbian borders).

The frequency of alcohol, illicit and licit drug consumption in the general driving population in South-East Hungary.

In the framework of the DRUID (Driving under the Influence of Drugs, Alcohol, and Medicines) EU-6 project, a roadside survey was performed in South-East Hungary to determine the incidence of alcohol and the most frequent illicit and licit drug consumption (amphetamines, THC, illicit and medical opiates, cocaine, ketamine, benzodiazepines, zopiclone and zolpidem) in the general driving population. All 3110 drivers stopped between 01 January 2008 and 31 December 2009 were checked for alcohol, and among them 2738 persons (87.7%) participated in the further examinations, on a voluntary basis.

[Mephedrone -- an old-new drug of abuse].

Unlabelled: New natural and synthetic compounds are continuously introduced into the illicit drug market. Their origin, composition, main and side-effects are often not exactly known by the users themselves. Thus, the control of these substances is extremely difficult.

Acute and subchronic effects of lead on the central and peripheral nervous systems in rats in combination with alcohol.

Humans are exposed, either simultaneously or sequentially, to various chemicals, including the neurotoxicants lead and ethanol. The aim of the present work was to investigate the changes in the spontaneous cortical activity (electrocorticogram; ECoG) and in the stimulus-dependent evoked potentials (EPs) recorded from rats pre-treated with alcohol and treated with lead acutely (intraperitoneally) or subchronically (by gavage). The measured parameters were spectral composition of the ECoG, amplitude and the latency of the stimulus-evoked cortical potential, as well as compound action potential amplitude, conduction velocity, and relative and absolute refractory period in a peripheral nerve.

Immunotoxicological investigation in rats dosed repeatedly with combinations of cypermethrin, As(III), and Hg(II).

The effects of the combined exposure of cypermethrin (CY), NaAsO2 (As), and HgCl2 (Hg) were investigated in male Wistar rats following 4 weeks of oral exposure. Standard toxicological (body weight gain, organ weights of brain, thymus, heart, lung, liver, kidneys, adrenals, testes, and popliteal lymph node), haematological (white blood cell, red blood cell, haematocrit, MCV-mean volume of red blood cells, and cell content of the femoral bone marrow), and immune function (IgM-PFC response, delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction) parameters were measured. The two doses selected for the combination were: a high (H) dose equal to lowest observed effect level determined in preliminary experiments (CY(H)=55.