Development and validation of a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry assay for opiates and cocaine in human teeth.
A procedure based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is described for determination of opiates (6-monoacetylmorphine, morphine and codeine) and cocaine and metabolites (cocaine, benzoylecgonine and cocaethylene) in human teeth. After addition of nalorphine as internal standard, pulverized samples were incubated in HCl at 37 degrees C for 18 h. Then, after pH adjustment to 6, and the analytes were extracted with two volumes of 3 ml of chloroform/isopropanol (9:1). Chromatography was performed on a fused silica capillary column and analytes were determined in the selected-ion-monitoring (SIM) mode. The assay was validated in the range 7.5 (6.0 in case of codeine) to 500 ng/g with mean absolute recoveries ranged between 74.1 and 92.1% for the different analytes and precision and accuracy always better than 15%. The method was applied to the analysis of teeth from drug-addicts to assess past chronic consumption and verify self-reported declarations. In case of opiates, concentration range was 36.5-570.0 ng/g for 6-monoacetylmorphine, 8.7-154.8 ng/g for morphine and 7.9-127.9 ng/g for codeine. Cocaine concentration ranged between 5.6 and 57.2 ng/g with its principal metabolite benzoylecgonine varying from 12.6 to 81.7 ng/g and cocaethylene present in only one sample at 10 ng/g value. Teeth can be a promising non-invasive biological matrix in biomedical analysis for both clinical and forensic purposes.
Pellegrini
Manuela
M
Drug Research and Control Department, Istituto Superiore di Sanitá, V.le Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
Casá
Adriana
A
Marchei
Emilia
E
Pacifici
Roberta
R
Mayné
Ruth
R
Barbero
Vanessa
V
Garcia-Algar
Oscar
O
Pichini
Simona
S
D002138:Calibration; D003042:Cocaine / Q000032:analysis*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D009294:Narcotics / Q000032:analysis*; D011786:Quality Control; D012015:Reference Standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014070:Tooth / Q000737:chemistry*
D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D009294:Narcotics; D003042:Cocaine