Prevalence study of drugs and new psychoactive substances in hair of ketamine consumers using a methanolic direct extraction prior to high-resolution mass spectrometry.
Forensic science international December 1, 2021 J M Matey, Gemma Montalvo, Carmen García-ruiz et al. 19 citations
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.