Acetylcodeine as a marker of illicit heroin in human hair: method validation and results of a pilot study.
Acetylcodeine (AC), which is an impurity of illicit heroin synthesis, was suggested as a marker of heroin abuse. A procedure for simultaneous quantitation of 6-monoacetylmorphine (6-MAM), which is the major metabolite of heroin, morphine, codeine, and AC in hair was developed. Fifty-milligram hair samples were incubated in 0.01 M HCl overnight at 60 degrees C. The resulting hydrolyzed solutions were extracted by an automated solid-phase extraction procedure and drugs were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in selected ion monitoring mode (SIM). This required prior derivatization with propionic anhydride. Different validation parameters, such as linearity, intra-assay accuracy, extraction recoveries, and limit of quantitation, were described. Seventy-three hair samples from heroin abusers and 43 hair samples from subjects who had completed a heroin-maintenance program were analyzed. AC was detected in 92% of the first sample group and in only 12% of the second sample group. In the two groups, about 98% of AC-positive samples were found. These results prove that AC can be considered as a suitable marker of illicit heroin use, along with 6-MAM detection.
Girod
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Institute of Forensic Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland.
Staub
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C
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D003061:Codeine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry*; D006556:Heroin Dependence / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009022:Morphine Derivatives / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000379:methods*
D015415:Biomarkers; D009022:Morphine Derivatives; C053740:acetylcodeine; C026979:6-O-monoacetylmorphine; D003061:Codeine