title: A procedure for drug screening without the need to transport urines: use of ion exchange papers and hemagglutination inhibition.
abstract: A procedure was devised for screening for drug abuse in urine specimens by adsorbing the drugs onto papers loaded with ion-exchange resin. The drugs were then eluted from the papers into aqueous saline buffers, which were analyzed by hemagglutination inhibition with antisera specific for morphine, methadone, or barbiturates. The procedure combines the convenience of the ion-exchange papers with the precision and sensitivity of the immunoassay. The preliminary treatment consists of local treatment of urine specimens collected at many distant clinics with ion exchange papers that adsorb 50-65% of alkaloid drugs and 25% of barbiturates and can be shipped, after drying, in simple envelopes by regular mail to a central analytical laboratory for processing. At the central laboratory, portions of specimens are reconstituted in aqueous saline buffers, while drugs from other portions are extracted with solvents at appropriate pH. Drugs are detected in the reconstituted aqueous media by hemagglutination inhibition and spectrophotofluorimetry and confirmed in the solvent extracts by thin-layer chromatography. Recovery of labeled drugs after this treatment and urine screening data showed that the procedure is safe, convenient, and reliable in the case of opiate alkaloids, methadone, amphetamines, and phenothiazine tranquilizers but is less suitable for detection of barbiturates.
mesh_terms: D002852:Chromatography, Ion Exchange; D002854:Chromatography, Paper; D006385:Hemagglutination Inhibition Tests; D006801:Humans; D008722:Methods; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000652:urine*
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations