A survey of adulterants used to cut cocaine in samples seized in the Espírito Santo State by GC–MS allied to chemometric tools

Souza, Lindamara M.; Rodrigues, Rayza R.T.; Santos, Heloá; Costa, Helber B.; Merlo, Bianca B.; Filgueiras, Paulo R.; Poppi, Ronei J.; Vaz, Boniek G.; Romão, Wanderson

doi:10.1016/j.scijus.2015.11.006

Cited by 28 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…[32][33][34][35][36] Our previous experiments revealed that the most common adulterants are levamisole, caffeine, lidocaine, phenacetine, and hydroxyzine. [32][33][34][35][36] Our previous experiments revealed that the most common adulterants are levamisole, caffeine, lidocaine, phenacetine, and hydroxyzine.…”

Section: Validation Of the Analytical Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applicability of ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography‐quadrupole‐time of flight mass spectrometry for cocaine profiling

Liu

Hua

Meng

2016

Drug Testing and Analysis

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For the first time in China, the chemical profiling of cocaine specimens was performed at the National Narcotics Laboratory. An ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF-MS) method was developed and validated for simultaneous analysis of 14 cocaine alkaloids and 5 main adulterants. Among them, ecgonine methyl ester, ecgonine, benzoylecgonine, and norcocaine were identified by comparing with the standard materials; tropacocaine, 3,4,5-trimethoxycocaine, cis-/trans-cinnamoylcocaine were tentatively identified based on the exact masses of protonated molecules and product ions; six unidentified alkaloids of 182/1.47, 316/9.54, 659/9.85, 316/9.87, 420/10.34, and 420/10.85 were marked with 'extracted mass/retention time' for convenience. Minimum sample preparation and analysis time were required, which was suitable for routine analysis. Based on the semi-quantitative data set of 14 alkaloid impurities in 131 linked/unlinked cocaine samples, 50 combinations of pretreatment methods and distance/correlation measurements were tested for their potential discrimination power for cocaine profiling, and Logarithm/Pearson exhibited the best result. After hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), 183 cocaine samples collected from 2011 to 2015 were classified into 7 major groups. Moreover, 37 groups of linked samples were found within and between provinces, which provide intelligence for the case connection and revealing of the distribution networks. Our results highlighted the practical utilities of drug profiling, especially to support the investigation through operational intelligence and to improve the knowledge related to the drug trafficking through strategic intelligence. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Validation Of the Analytical Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applicability of ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography‐quadrupole‐time of flight mass spectrometry for cocaine profiling

Liu

Hua

Meng

2016

Drug Testing and Analysis

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“…Cutting agents can constantly change over time, increasing the user health risks caused by the compound interactions and intrinsic toxicity. Historically, many substances have been used to cut cocaine and heroin materials, including lidocaine, caffeine, phenacetin, diltiazem, hydroxyzine, levamisole ((6S)‐ 6‐phenyl‐2,3,5,6‐tetrahydroimidazo[2,1‐b][1,3]thiazole;hydrochloride), benzocaine, acetaminophen, procaine, aminopyrine, prilocaine, bicarbonate, starch, and sugars .…”

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confidence: 99%

Detection of Cutting Agents in Drug‐Positive Seized Exhibits within the United States

Fiorentin

Krotulski

Martín

et al. 2018

Journal of Forensic Sciences

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The following report summarizes a study performed on seized drug exhibits collected in two U.S. states to evaluate the presence and identification of cutting agents. Aliquots of seized drug materials from Kentucky (n = 200) and Vermont (n = 315) were prepared using a dilute‐and‐shoot procedure. Initial analysis was performed using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC‐MS) followed by analysis using liquid chromatography quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (LC‐QTOF). Active compounds detected overall included caffeine (31.0%), quinine/quinidine (24.7%), levamisole (11.6%), acetaminophen, (8.2%) and procaine (8.2%). These compounds were found with several drugs of abuse, such as heroin, fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine. This novel information about cutting agents used to dilute or alter drugs of abuse is important to criminal investigations and in the management of acute intoxications at health centers. However, common methodologies for analysis and standard reporting practices frequently do not include cutting agents, resulting in lacking or inadequate information regarding prevalence of these substances.

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“…Using UV–vis spectroscopy measurements, we obtained a measurable limit of detection of 2 μ M (Figure 8B). We determined the target specificity of the CBSA-based EATR-amplified colorimetric assay by challenging it with cocaine along with common cutting agents observed in street samples 49 such as lidocaine, caffeine, levamisole, and benzocaine at a concentration of 50 μ M. We observed a red-to-blue color change only in the cocaine sample within 20 min (Supporting Information, Figure S16). These results show that our EATR colormietric assay can be used for the specific and sensitive naked-eye detection of cocaine in seized samples.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensitive Detection of Small-Molecule Targets Using Cooperative Binding Split Aptamers and Enzyme-Assisted Target Recycling

Canoura

Guntupalli

et al. 2018

Anal. Chem.

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Signal amplification via enzyme-assisted target recycling (EATR) offers a powerful means for improving the sensitivity of DNA detection assays, but it has proven challenging to employ EATR with aptamer-based assays for small-molecule detection due to insensitive target response of aptamers. Here, we describe a general approach for the development of rapid and sensitive EATR-amplified small-molecule sensors based on cooperative binding split aptamers (CBSAs). CBSAs contain two target-binding domains and exhibit enhanced target response compared with single-domain split aptamers. We introduced a duplexed C3 spacer abasic site between the two binding domains, enabling EATR signal amplification through exonuclease III’s apurinic endonuclease activity. As a demonstration, we engineered a CBSA-based EATR-amplified fluorescence assay to detect dehydroisoandrosterone-3-sulfate. This assay achieved 100-fold enhanced target sensitivity relative to a non-EATR-based assay, with a detection limit of 1 μM in 50% urine. We further developed an instrument-free colorimetric assay employing EATR-mediated aggregation of CBSA-modified gold nanoparticles for the visual detection of low-micromolar concentrations of cocaine. On the basis of the generalizability of CBSA engineering and the robust performance of EATR in complex samples, we believe that such assays should prove valuable for detecting small-molecule targets in diverse fields.

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A survey of adulterants used to cut cocaine in samples seized in the Espírito Santo State by GC–MS allied to chemometric tools

Cited by 28 publications

References 10 publications

Applicability of ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography‐quadrupole‐time of flight mass spectrometry for cocaine profiling

Applicability of ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography‐quadrupole‐time of flight mass spectrometry for cocaine profiling

Detection of Cutting Agents in Drug‐Positive Seized Exhibits within the United States

Sensitive Detection of Small-Molecule Targets Using Cooperative Binding Split Aptamers and Enzyme-Assisted Target Recycling

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