European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

DETERMINATION OF DRUGS OF ABUSE IN BLOOD BY HYPHENATED CHROMATOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUES

Bhusnure O. G.*, Giram P. S., Gandge N. V., Gholve S. B.

ABSTRACT

The detection and quantitation of drugs of abuse in blood is of growing interest in forensic and clinical toxicology. Hyphenated techniques combine chromatographic and spectral methods to exploit the advantage of both. Chromatography produces pure or nearly pure fractions of chemical components in a mixture. Spectroscopy produces selective information for identification using standards or library spectra. The term forensic science covers those professions which are involved in the application of the social and physical sciences to the criminal justice system. Forensic experts are required to explain the smallest details of the methods use, to substantiate the choice of the applied techniques and to give their unbiased conclusions. All under the critical and often mistrustful gaze of the servants of the justice, as well as the general public and the media. Recent years have seen the development of powerful technologies that have provided forensic scientists with new analytical capabilities, unimaginable only a few years ago. The aim of this article is to present an overview of some of the most recent applications of hyphenated liquid chromatography to forensic analysis. Focuses on trace analysis (including chemical warfare agents, explosives and dyes Drugs of abuse in alternative matrices, trace chemicals, systemic toxicological analysis, doping agent and related compounds, therapeutic drugs of toxicological relevant, environmental poisons, Natural toxins). It is not the intention to provide an exhaustive review of the literature but rather to provide the reader with a „flavour‟ of the versatility and utility of the technique within the forensic sciences. Also a number of drugs/drug metabolites that are structurally close to these substances are included in the tables. Basic information about the biosample assayed, work-up, GC column or LC column and mobile phase, detection mode, reference data and validation data of each procedure is summarized in the tables. Examples of typical applications are presented. This review also includes methods for the determination of the most commonly occurring illicit drugs and their metabolites, which are important for the assessment of drug abuse: Methamphetamine, amphetamine, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), N-ethyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDEA), 3,4-methylenedioxy-amphetamine (MDA), cannabinoids (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, 11-hydroxy-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, 11-nor-9-carboxy-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), cocaine, benzoylecgonine, ecgonine methyl ester, cocaethylene and the opiates (heroin, 6-monoacetylmorphine, morphine, codeine and dihydrocodeine).

Keywords: Hyphenated chromatography, Forensic toxicology, Drug Abus, Metabolites, Analysis.