title: [Role of laboratories in the clinical study of drug dependence].
abstract: Clinical toxicological laboratory is involved in two different topics related to drug addiction: tests devoted to diagnosis and treatment of addicted and analyses for administrative and forensic purposes. A laboratory which analyses drugs of abuse has to guarantee reliability and performance of its services working with a quality system. It can be possible to differentiate between laboratories which perform only screening tests with immunological methods and laboratories which execute confirmations with a forensic meaning using chromatographic techniques. The primary biological matrix for this kind of tests is urine, although in some specific cases hair analysis can be a support of traditional investigations. Internet sites on specific topics can be of assistance for questions of different nature to be faced by a clinical toxicological laboratory.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Biochimica Clinica, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Roma.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pacifici
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lopez
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pellegrini
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zuccaro
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007753:Laboratories / Q000458:organization & administration; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*