title: Determination of chronic flunitrazepam abuse by hair analysis using GC-MS-NCI.
abstract: A 38-year-old male was found comatose at home with an empty package of Rohypnol (2-mg tablets, 10 per package) near the body. Many other drugs, which had recently been stolen from a pharmacy, were also found. The judge in charge of the investigation of the stolen pharmaceuticals asked our laboratory to determine if the subject was a chronic user of flunitrazepam, leading our laboratory to develop a procedure for the detection of this benzodiazepine in human hair. The method involved decontamination of hair samples with dichloromethane, incubation in Sorenson buffer (pH 7.6) in the presence of diazepam-d5 used as internal standard, direct liquid-liquid extraction with diethylether-chloroform (80:20, v/v), derivatization with heptafluorobutyric anhydride and analysis by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry in the negative chemical ionization mode of detection. Flunitrazepam and its major metabolite, 7-amino-flunitrazepam, were both detected. The concentrations determined in the proximal hair segment were 89.5 and 24.0 pg/mg for flunitrazepam and 7-amino-flunitrazepam, respectively.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Médecine Légale, Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cirimele
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kintz
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mangin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis*; D005445:Flunitrazepam / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis*; D005554:Forensic Medicine / Q000379:methods; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000379:methods*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents; D005445:Flunitrazepam