title: 1H NMR spectroscopic identification of a glue sniffing biomarker.
abstract: Organic solvent abuse typically involves sniffing organic solvents to experience the mind-altering conditions they induce. In Republic of Korea, organic solvent abuse is a serious social problem, especially among teenagers. Several studies have addressed the effects of organic solvent abuse on mind and body, but there are no simple methods by which such abuse can be positively identified. In this report, we describe a method for analyzing toluene metabolites (toluene is the main ingredient of glue) in glue-sniffers' urine using (1)H NMR spectroscopy. Toluene is a commonly used solvent in the rubber, paint, plastics, leather, printing, and chemical industries. Inhaled toluene is metabolized to hippuric acid in the liver and excreted in the urine. Hippuric acid is known as a good biomarker for biological monitoring of toluene exposure. We have scanned hippuric acid and other toluene metabolites by NMR spectroscopy and performed statistical multivariate analysis of the data. Based on this analysis, we sought to determine parameters by which glue-sniffing (toluene inhalation) behavior may be verified. We also demonstrate the use of a pattern recognition method for accurate and efficient analysis of NMR data. In comparison to conventional methods, such as mass spectroscopy coupled with liquid chromatography or gas chromatography, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy has several advantages, including simple sample preparation, non-destructive sampling, accuracy, short acquisition time, and reproducibility in the determination of urinary hippuric acid.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Pusan National University, Geumjeong-gu, Busan, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Bobae
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Siwon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sosun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Dong-Kye
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Yu-Jin
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Myung-Duck
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jae-Shin
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Suhkmann
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000652:urine; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002951:Citrates / Q000652:urine; D003404:Creatinine / Q000652:urine; D053593:Forensic Toxicology; D006626:Hippurates / Q000652:urine*; D006801:Humans; D058545:Inhalant Abuse / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000652:urine; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D012997:Solvents; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000379:methods*; D014050:Toluene / Q000652:urine
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D002951:Citrates; D006626:Hippurates; D012997:Solvents; D014050:Toluene; D003404:Creatinine; C030514:hippuric acid