Department of Chemistry and Drugs, National Institute of Toxicology and Forensic Sciences (INTCF), C/ José Echegaray no. 4, 28232 Las Rozas de Madrid, Madrid, Spain; University of Alcalá, Sciences Faculty, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Physical Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, CINQUIFOR research group, Ctra. Madrid-Barcelona km 33.600, 28871 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain; University of Alcalá, University Institute of Research in Police Sciences (IUICP), Colegio Máximo de Jesuitas, Calle Libreros 27, 28801 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: josemanuel.matey@justicia.es.
2 papers in the library · 32 citations · publishing 2021-2022
Among people who test positive for ketamine, polyconsumption of other drugs and new psychoactive substances (NPS) is common. Reanalyzing hair samples from ten former cases—all defendants accused of crimes against public health—using high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS/MS) with a methanolic incubation extraction detected additional NPS not found in the original gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. The additional substances included other arylcyclohexylamines (deschloroketamine, 3-MeO-PCP, methoxetamine) and cathinones (methylmetcathinone, N-ethyl-pentylone). The new method demonstrated its benefits for NPS prevalence studies.
Analyzing hair and other biological samples for drugs like methoxetamine requires highly selective and sensitive methods. Traditional target analysis using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry can be complex and less sensitive. Reanalyzing samples from a former case of a polydrug consumer in Spain, five metabolites of methoxetamine were tentatively detected using liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HR-MS-MS). This method, combined with simpler pretreatment, allowed faster and more sensitive analysis than the traditional approach, demonstrating its utility for detecting low concentrations of new psychoactive substances.