PMID- 22041623
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20120925
LR  - 20191210
IS  - 1872-6283 (Electronic)
IS  - 0379-0738 (Linking)
VI  - 218
IP  - 1-3
DP  - 2012 May 10
TI  - Evidence of mephedrone chronic abuse through hair analysis using GC/MS.
PG  - 44-8
LID - 10.1016/j.forsciint.2011.10.016 [doi]
AB  - Mephedrone is a synthetic derivative of cathinone which is becoming more common 
      on the recreational drug market. Several intoxications following mephedrone abuse 
      have been reported though published papers have focused essentially on analytical 
      approaches for biological fluids and only one has involved a hair sample. After 
      the development and validation of a new method, the first series of positive 
      results for mephedrone in hair specimens is reported here. After decontamination 
      of the hair strand in methylene chloride, hair segments were cut into small 
      pieces with scissors, weighed and incubated overnight in Soerensen buffer pH 7.0 
      in the presence of deuterated 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) at 40 degrees C. 
      The incubation medium was extracted using ethyl acetate after alkalinisation with 
      1N sodium hydroxide (NaOH). Before injection, the dry extract was derivatized 
      using a mixture of heptafluorobutyric anhydride/ethyl acetate (100:50, v/v), 
      evaporated and dissolved in ethyl acetate (25mul). After introduction of 1mul of 
      the extract onto a splitless injector, chromatographic separation was achieved on 
      a HP 6890 gas chromatograph equipped with a 5-MS capillary column. Detection was 
      achieved in single ion monitoring mode (m/z 254-119-210 for mephedrone, m/z 
      258-213 for MDMA-d5) using a 5973 MSD operating in electron impact mode. 
      Sixty-seven hair specimens were tested for mephedrone. Thirteen of them were 
      found positive for mephedrone with concentrations ranging from 0.2 to 313.2ng/mg 
      with a mean concentration of 26.8ng/mg. It was difficult to compare our findings 
      due to a lack of reference data, nevertheless mephedrone seems well incorporated 
      into hair (concentrations in the ng/mg range) like other stimulant drugs such as 
      amphetamines or cocaine. The aim of this work was to develop a specific and 
      accurate method for mephedrone analysis in hair specimens and its application to 
      a large number of samples (n=67). The developed analytical method appears 
      sensitive enough to reveal occasional to regular use of mephedrone.
CI  - Copyright (c) 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
FAU - Martin, M
AU  - Martin M
AD  - ChemTox Laboratory, Parc d'innovation, 3 rue Gruninger, F-67400 Illkirch, France. 
      mmartin@labochemtox.com
FAU - Muller, J F
AU  - Muller JF
FAU - Turner, K
AU  - Turner K
FAU - Duez, M
AU  - Duez M
FAU - Cirimele, V
AU  - Cirimele V
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Validation Study
DEP - 20111030
PL  - Ireland
TA  - Forensic Sci Int
JT  - Forensic science international
JID - 7902034
RN  - 0 (Central Nervous System Stimulants)
RN  - 44RAL3456C (Methamphetamine)
RN  - 8BA8T27317 (mephedrone)
SB  - IM
MH  - Amphetamine-Related Disorders/diagnosis
MH  - Central Nervous System Stimulants/*analysis/chemistry
MH  - Forensic Toxicology/methods
MH  - *Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
MH  - Hair/*chemistry
MH  - Humans
MH  - Methamphetamine/*analogs & derivatives/analysis/chemistry
MH  - Molecular Structure
MH  - Substance Abuse Detection/*methods
EDAT- 2011/11/02 06:00
MHDA- 2012/09/26 06:00
CRDT- 2011/11/02 06:00
PHST- 2011/03/30 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2011/05/10 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2011/11/02 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2011/11/02 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2012/09/26 06:00 [medline]
AID - S0379-0738(11)00491-9 [pii]
AID - 10.1016/j.forsciint.2011.10.016 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Forensic Sci Int. 2012 May 10;218(1-3):44-8. doi: 
      10.1016/j.forsciint.2011.10.016. Epub 2011 Oct 30.