Urine Mescaline Screening With a Biochip Array Immunoassay and Quantification by Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry
Therapeutic Drug Monitoring May 20, 2015 Dīlek Battal, Allan J. Barnes, Marisol S. Castaneto et al. 6 citations
Mescaline, the psychoactive compound in peyote cactus, has been used for centuries in religious ceremonies. The US military investigated whether mescaline use posed a problem for personnel readiness. Twenty thousand seventeen urine specimens, already negative for other drugs, were screened for mescaline using a biochip array immunoassay. A sensitive gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method was developed and validated for quantification, with a linear range of 1 to 250 mcg/L and high accuracy. Of 526 presumptive-positive and 198 negative specimens tested, none confirmed positive at the quantification limit of 1 mcg/L. Results suggest insufficient mescaline use in the military to warrant routine screening, though stability may have affected prevalence.