Urine specimens from 34 active-duty U.S. Army personnel who tested positive for amphetamines were reanalyzed. All samples contained both MDMA (ecstasy) and its metabolite MDA. MDMA concentrations ranged from 0.38 to 96.2 mg/L (mean 13.4 mg/L), and MDA concentrations ranged from 0.15 to 8.6 mg/L (mean 1.6 mg/L). The average ratio of MDA to MDMA was 0.15, similar to the ratio of amphetamine to methamphetamine (0.10). The presence of MDA at about 10–15% of the MDMA concentration is consistent with MDMA metabolism alone, suggesting use of only MDMA rather than combined use of both drugs.
A method measures LSD and its metabolite O-H-LSD in urine and blood. O-H-LSD appears in urine at concentrations many times higher than LSD, extending detection time for confirming LSD use. A single-step liquid-liquid extraction on 5-mL urine samples precedes liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Detection limits are 400 pg/mL for O-H-LSD and 100 pg/mL for LSD. In nine LSD-positive urine samples, mean O-H-LSD concentration was 6378 pg/mL (range 332-21371 pg/mL) and mean LSD concentration was 844 pg/mL (range 177-2456 pg/mL), with O-H-LSD levels 0.9 to 19.8 times higher than LSD (mean 10.2). No O-H-LSD was detected in blood samples. Enzymatic hydrolysis of six urine samples showed no significant difference, indicating absence of glucuronic acid conjugation.