title: Toxicokinetics of cocaine and metabolites: the forensic toxicological approach.
abstract: Cocaine is one of the most used psychomotor stimulants all over the world. On this basis, the interest for the pharmacological activity and the pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic aspects of this drug is very prominent in both clinical and forensic toxicological environments. The review presents and discusses 65 scientific publications covering all the aspects of cocaine toxicokinetic, including absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination of the drug. Particular attention has been dedicated to the studies on the disposition of the drug in alternative biological matrices, such as oral fluid, hair, fetus fluids and tissues, and sweat. In fact, in the last years the use of these matrices has been proposed in clinical and forensic drug analysis in order to obtain additional information to that which can be obtained by analyzing the traditional biological matrices, such as blood and urine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Unit of Forensic Medicine, University of Verona, P.le L.A. Scuro 10, 37134, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bortolotti
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gottardo
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pascali
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tagliaro
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003042:Cocaine / Q000378:metabolism / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000633:toxicity; D018765:Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000633:toxicity; D053593:Forensic Toxicology / Q000379:methods; D006197:Hair / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D018765:Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors; D003042:Cocaine