A Dilute and Shoot LC-MS/MS Method for Antipsychotics in Urine.

Adherence to prescribed antipsychotics is an ongoing problem. Traditionally, estimates of adherence have been made from patient interviews, pill counting and blood testing. A number of methods for the analysis of antipsychotics in blood have been reported for both therapeutic drug monitoring and postmortem testing for toxicity.

Development and Validation of a Novel All-Inclusive LC-MS-MS Designer Drug Method.

Designer drugs including synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic cathinones are an increasing problem due to the ease of access to these compounds. They present analytical challenges inasmuch as the compound structures are numerous and growing within each class. Typically each class of designer compounds is analyzed separately due to differences in chemistry, desired cut-offs or other reasons.

Zolpidem and Zolpidem Carboxylic Acid Results from Medication Monitoring.

Zolpidem (Ambien®) is one of the "Z" drugs often used to improve sleep in older patients and those suffering from insomnia. Schwope, D.M.

Impact of β-Glucuronidase Mediated Hydrolysis on Haldol® Urinalysis.

Reports have suggested that patients with mental health disorders including major depressive disorder and schizophrenia have dramatically low adherence levels to prescribed medications. Patients on haloperidol (Haldol®) therapy, regardless of their disease, were found to have higher adherence levels-though still strikingly low. This work shows that high levels of the glucuronidated form of haloperidol are present in patient urine samples.

Quetiapine Carboxylic Acid and Quetiapine Sulfoxide Prevalence in Patient Urine.

Treatment adherence is often an issue with mental health patients. For those prescribed quetiapine (Seroquel), the low levels of parent drug and plasma metabolite(s) (e.g.

Fentanyl-Norfentanyl Concentrations During Transdermal Patch Application: LC-MS-MS Urine Analysis.

Poklis and Backer published a survey of the concentrations of fentanyl and norfentanyl that could be expected in urine from patients using Duragesic, a transdermal fentanyl patch. That study employed a relatively small number of patient data points and analysis by Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry. This work examines a larger population of patient positives for fentanyl and norfentanyl to determine whether more than a decade later the original report remains accurate in predicting the range and median levels of fentanyl and norfentanyl concentrations physicians can expect to see from their patients.

Normalizing Oral Fluid Hydrocodone Data Using Calculated Blood Volume.

Oral fluid testing to assist in the assessment of treatment adherence for chronic pain patients is attractive for a number of reasons. However, efforts focused on interpreting patient results have been modest when compared to urine drug testing. This work details a retrospective approach developed to transform and normalize oral fluid testing results to provide a historical picture of patient values in this important test fluid.

Interfacial behavior of simple inorganic salts at the air-water interface investigated with a polarizable model with electrostatic damping.

New molecular models that incorporated polarizable interactions with electrostatic damping were developed to better understand the interfacial properties of aqueous electrolyte systems. The models were parameterized to give free energies of aqueous solvation and the change in activity with respect to concentration in agreement with experiment. Specifically, we investigated NaCl, NaBr, and NaI systems, finding anion propensity for the air-water interface was reduced in comparison with previously developed polarizable models.

Computational investigation on the effect of alumina hydration on lithium ion mobility in poly(ethylene oxide) LiClO4 electrolytes.

Improving ionic conductivity and lithium ion mobility in polymer electrolytes is important for their practical use for polymer electrolytes. In this study, a combination of molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations were used to bring insight into lithium ion transport in poly(ethylene oxide) LiClO(4) polymer electrolytes next to both acidic and basic treated model alumina solid surfaces at 323, 348, and 373 K. The acidic treated system had hydrogens present on its surface, while the basic treated system did not.