Forensic science international
July 1, 2021
Thomas Gicquel, Camille Richeval, Vadim Mesli et al.
45 citations
A 42-year-old man was found dead at home with bags of 'research chemicals' powders. Toxicological analysis identified three new psychoactive substances (NPS) in his system: 2-fluoro-deschloroketamine (2F-DCK), 3-methoxyeticyclidine (3-MeO-PCE), and 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT), each with purity above 95%. Peripheral blood concentrations were 1780 µg/L for 2F-DCK, 90 µg/L for 3-MeO-PCE, and 52 µg/L for 5-MeO-DMT. The death was attributed to respiratory depression from a 'cocktail effect' of these substances combined with amphetamine and cocaine. Hair analysis showed a pattern of addiction over several months. This case provides analytical data to aid interpretation in future forensic cases involving arylcyclohexylamine derivatives.
Drug testing and analysis
January 1, 2022
Thomas Gicquel, Romain Pelletier, Camille Richeval et al.
32 citations
Thirteen metabolites of the dissociative drug 2-fluoro-deschloroketamine (2F-DCK) were produced in vitro using human liver microsomes and HepaRG liver cells. Seven additional metabolites, including three Phase II conjugates, were identified in post-mortem bile and urine from a fatal case. Molecular networking helped compare the two in vitro models, which proved complementary. The authors propose that nor-2F-DCK (mass-to-charge 208.1137) and a hydrogenated metabolite (224.1443) are reliable markers for detecting 2F-DCK use in high-resolution mass spectrometry libraries.
Forensic science international
June 1, 2024
Guillaume Drevin, Jean-Michel Gaulier, Florian Hakim et al.
21 citations
A 36-year-old man was drugged and sexually assaulted; the novel synthetic cathinone N-ethyl-pentedrone (NEPD) was found in his blood and urine. Five synthetic cathinones have been linked to drug-facilitated sexual assault: methylenedioxypyrovalerone, 4-methylethcathinone, α-pyrrolidinopentiophenone, mephedrone, α-pyrrolidinohexiophenone, and methylone—the most common. Methylone, a β-keto analog of MDMA, shares its entactogenic effects. NEPD, however, produces only slightly entactogenic effects in a minority of users, making it more suited to chemsex than to drug-facilitated sexual assault, though the boundary between these contexts can be blurry.