title: Stability of morphine and buprenorphine in whole blood.
abstract: Delays between time of sampling and time of toxicological analysis are common, therefore the length of time that postmortem blood can be stored at various temperatures (e.g. 4 degrees, 25 degrees, -20 degrees C) was evaluated for the effect on the stability of morphine and buprenorphine from day one up to one year. Solid phase extraction and GC-MS were used for the isolation and quantification of the drugs. Morphine and buprenorphine were found to be very stable for up to 6 months under these storage conditions, where at least 85% and 77% of morphine and buprenorphine respectively, were recovered. The study showed that a reasonable amount of the drugs (not less than 70%) was still detectable after one year of storage regardless of the temperature when blood samples were stored in silanized glass vessels.
authors.affiliation: Forensic Medicine and Toxicology Division, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan.
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Hadidi
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Oliver
mesh_terms: D001793:Blood Preservation; D002047:Buprenorphine / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D015925:Cryopreservation; D004355:Drug Stability; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006801:Humans; D009020:Morphine / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D011180:Postmortem Changes
chemical_list: D002047:Buprenorphine; D009020:Morphine