title: Identification of anhydroecgonine ethyl ester in the urine of a drug overdose victim.
abstract: Toxicological evaluation of postmortem urine collected from a 41-year-old deceased white male detected anhydroecgonine ethyl ester (ethylecgonidine, AEEE), a transesterification product of smoked cocaine co-abused with ethanol. A solid phase extraction (SPE) method was used to extract cocaine, AEEE, and related metabolites from urine. SPE on a 1 mL urine sample from the decedent followed by GC-MS detected AEEE. Other metabolites identified by GC-MS included cocaine, cocaethylene, and anhydroecgonine methyl ester (AEME). To determine whether some or all of the AEEE was artifactually produced in the heated GC injector port, an alternative LC-MS method was developed. LC/MS following SPE found at least 50 ng/mL of AEEE in the extract. The mass fragmentation (MS/MS and MS3) of AEEE detected in the urine was compared to spectra of authentic, synthesized compound. AEEE is a potential additional forensic marker for the co-abuse of smoked cocaine and ethanol.
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA.
authors.forename: Alan L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Myers
authors.forename: Heather E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: James C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Kraner
authors.forename: Patrick S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Callery
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000097:blood; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000097:blood; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D003042:Cocaine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000506:poisoning / Q000652:urine; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000652:urine; D018765:Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors / Q000506:poisoning* / Q000652:urine*; D062787:Drug Overdose; D000431:Ethanol / Q000097:blood; D005554:Forensic Medicine; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013058:Mass Spectrometry
chemical_list: D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D018765:Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors; D000431:Ethanol; C068464:anhydroecgonine methyl ester; D003042:Cocaine