title: Rapid and sensitive screening and confirmation of thirty-four aminocarbonyl/carboxamide (NACA) and arylindole synthetic cannabinoid drugs in human whole blood.
abstract: We describe the development and validation of a method for the screening and confirmation of a range of chemically diverse synthetic cannabinoid drugs in human whole blood. The method targets the better known arylindole compounds as well as the emerging aminocarbonyl/ carboxamide (NACA) compounds. The approach consists of two separate extraction procedures designed to optimize recovery of each of these two classes, followed by analysis by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The most significant novel compounds added were AB-FUBINACA, ADBICA, 5 F-ADBICA, ADB-PINACA, ADB-FUBINACA, ADB-FUBINACA, 5 F-ADB-PINACA, 5 F-ADB-PINACA, AB-PINACA, AB-CHMINACA, and ADB-CHMINACA. A third procedure is described for the quantitative confirmation of those compounds for which deuterated internal standards permitted quantitative analysis, including JWH-018, JWH-122, JWH-081, JWH-210, AM-2201, XLR-11, and UR-144. The methods were successfully validated according to Scientific Working Group in Forensic Toxicology (SWGTOX) protocol for 34 compounds in common use in the United States in the period of 2014 and 2015, although other substances, unknown at the time may have been introduced to the market over the same time period. The method was determined to be free from carry-over between samples, and no interference was found from other common therapeutic abused or novel psychoactive drugs. The methods were applied to the analysis of 1142 blood samples from forensic investigations, including post-mortem examinations and driving impairment cases. The drugs most frequently detected were AB-CHMINACA (18.6%), ADB-CHMINACA (15%), XLR-11 (5.5%), AB-FUBINACA (4.5%), AB-PINACA (3.9%), and ADB-FUBINACA (2.3%). Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
authors.affiliation: NMS Labs, Willow Grove, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Marykathryn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tynon
authors.affiliation: NMS Labs, Willow Grove, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Homan
authors.affiliation: NMS Labs, Willow Grove, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Sherri
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kacinko
authors.affiliation: NMS Labs, Willow Grove, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Annette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ervin
authors.affiliation: NMS Labs, Willow Grove, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McMullin
authors.affiliation: NMS Labs, Willow Grove, PA, USA.|The Center for Forensic Science Research and Education, The Fredric Rieders Family Renaissance Foundation, Willow Grove, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Barry K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Logan
mesh_terms: D002186:Cannabinoids / Q000097:blood*; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods; D053593:Forensic Toxicology / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000097:blood*; D057230:Limit of Detection; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D002186:Cannabinoids; D013287:Illicit Drugs
keywords: LC-MS/MS; forensic toxicology; synthetic cannabinoids