Myristicin (5-allyl-1-methoxy-2,3-methylenodioxybenzene) is the main component of nutmeg (Myristica fragrans Houtt.) essential oil. The increasing use of myristicin as a cheap hallucinogenic intoxicant, frequently causing fatal cases of myristicin poisoning, requires new methods for determination of this compound in blood. This report describes the rapid, simple, and useful procedure for myristicin analysis in human serum, involving myristicin–protein complex degradation before chromatographic analysis. The developed method is characterized by a high recovery (above 99 %), a low detection limit (6.0 ng/g) and good repeatability (average RDS of 2.01 %).

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PurposeAnalysis of drugs and their metabolites in biofluids usually demands the application of sample preparation methods that allow for full isolation of analyzed substances from the matrix. The purpose of this study was to develop a method using the QuEChERS procedure for analysis of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), 11-hydroxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (11-OH-THC) and 11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (11-COOH-THC).MethodsTHC, 11-OH-THC and 11-COOH-THC were quantified in whole blood samples using QuEChERS extraction and gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry.ResultsThe described method is characterized by good linearity, very low detection limits and satisfactory inter- and intraday precisions for THC, 11-OH-THC and 11-COOH-THC. The applicability of the procedure was confirmed using authentic whole blood samples collected from 30 persons suspected of driving under the influence of drugs.ConclusionsThe application of QuEChERS extraction described herein is a simple and convenient method for the routine analysis of THC, 11-OH-THC and 11-COOH-THC in whole blood samples from living and deceased humans. To our knowledge, this paper is the first academic report describing the QuEChERS extraction of THC and its metabolites from whole blood specimens.

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