PMID- 12609014
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20030904
LR  - 20190819
IS  - 0042-9007 (Print)
IS  - 0042-9007 (Linking)
VI  - 84
IP  - 2
DP  - 2003 Feb
TI  - Prevalence of illicit drug use in plasmapheresis donors.
PG  - 91-5
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: No data are presently available concerning the 
      frequency of illicit drug use in plasmapheresis donors. We therefore examined 
      source plasma units produced in the United States (US) and in Germany for 
      evidence of illicit drug use among donors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy-five US 
      plasma units from 10 different US states and 75 German plasma units that had been 
      analysed principally for their protein composition were screened for drugs. 
      Determinations were made, using automated immunoassays, of the presence of 
      cannabis, cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, methylenedioxymethamphetamine 
      (MDMA), methylenedioxyethylamphetamine (MDE) and opiates. Positive results were 
      confirmed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. RESULTS: Eleven US plasma 
      units were found to be positive for cocaine (14.6%), whereas all German samples 
      were cocaine negative (P = 0.0007). Fifteen US plasma units (20%) and one German 
      unit (1.3%) were confirmed as positive for cannabis (P = 0.0003). Three out of 75 
      US plasma units were positive for both cannabis and cocaine. In none of the 150 
      samples were amphetamine, methamphetamine, MDMA, MDE or opiates detected. 
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results strongly suggest differences in cocaine and cannabis 
      consumption between US and German plasmapheresis donors. If these results are 
      confirmed by larger-scale studies, random drug screening (including cocaine) of 
      donors should be implemented in order to reduce the number of drug-containing 
      plasma units, especially in the USA.
FAU - Peters, F T
AU  - Peters FT
AD  - Department of Experimental and Clinical Toxicology, University of Saarland, 
      Homburg-Saar, Germany. peterhellstern@medicusnet.de
FAU - Maurer, H H
AU  - Maurer HH
FAU - Hellstern, P
AU  - Hellstern P
LA  - eng
PT  - Comparative Study
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PL  - England
TA  - Vox Sang
JT  - Vox sanguinis
JID - 0413606
RN  - 0 (Cannabinoids)
RN  - 0 (Vasoconstrictor Agents)
RN  - I5Y540LHVR (Cocaine)
SB  - IM
MH  - *Blood Donors
MH  - Cannabinoids/analysis
MH  - Chromatography, Gas
MH  - Cocaine/analysis
MH  - Germany
MH  - Humans
MH  - *Plasmapheresis
MH  - Prevalence
MH  - Substance Abuse Detection
MH  - Substance-Related Disorders/*epidemiology
MH  - United States
MH  - Vasoconstrictor Agents/analysis
EDAT- 2003/03/01 04:00
MHDA- 2003/09/05 05:00
CRDT- 2003/03/01 04:00
PHST- 2003/03/01 04:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2003/09/05 05:00 [medline]
PHST- 2003/03/01 04:00 [entrez]
AID - 264 [pii]
AID - 10.1046/j.1423-0410.2003.00264.x [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Vox Sang. 2003 Feb;84(2):91-5. doi: 10.1046/j.1423-0410.2003.00264.x.