Chemical characterization of counterfeit captagon tablets seized in Jordan

“…1 While fenethylline addiction has historically been regionally confined, increased production and global trafficking of counterfeit tablets from Syria has been implicated as a source of revenue for militant groups to fund operations. 1–3,16,17 Furthermore, as with the use amphetamine and methamphetamine in prior conflicts, fenethylline has been identified as a source of pharmacological morale in battle. 3,4,18–20 The ultimate source of fenethylline’s psychoactive effects has historically been a debated subject, with some results supporting the position that the parent compound itself exhibits psychoactive effects distinct from those of other central stimulants, while others posit that it acts as merely an amphetamine prodrug.…”

Section: Mainmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Importantly, vaccination with FEN-KLH was able to decrease the pharmacodynamic (PD) effects of amphetamine and methamphetamine alone, which are often found alongside theophylline and caffeine in counterfeit tablets (Extended Data Figure 4). 17 …”

Section: Mainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vaccine-driven pharmacodynamic dissection and mitigation of fenethylline psychoactivity

Wenthur

Zhou

Janda

2017

Nature

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SUMMARY PARAGRAPH Fenethylline, also known as Captagon, is a synthetic psychoactive stimulant that has recently been linked to substance use disorder and ‘pharmacoterrorism’ in the Middle East.1–4 Although fenethylline shares a common phenethylamine core with other amphetamine-type stimulants, it additionally incorporates a covalently-linked xanthine moiety into its parent structure.5,6 These independently-active pharmacophores are liberated during metabolism, resulting in a structurally-diverse chemical mixture being deployed to the central nervous system.7–9 Although fenethylline’s psychoactive properties have been reported to differ from other synthetic stimulants, the in vivo chemical complexity it manifests upon ingestion has impeded efforts to unambiguously identify the specific species responsible for these effects.10,11 Here we develop a ‘dissection through vaccination’ approach, called DISSECTIV, to mitigate fenethylline’s psychoactivity and show that its rapid-onset and distinct psychoactive properties are facilitated by functional synergy between theophylline and amphetamine. Our results demonstrate that incremental vaccination against single chemical species within a multi-component mixture can be used to uncover emergent properties arising from polypharmacologic activity. We anticipate that DISSECTIV will be employed to expose unidentified active chemical species and illuminate pharmacodynamic interactions within other chemically complex systems, such as those found in counterfeit or illegal drug preparations, post-metabolic tissue samples, and natural product extracts.

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“…It is used in medicine as a medicament for hyperactivity disorders in children, but is also subject to abuse. 12 The common point of all the published analyses of "Captagon" tablets is the absence of fenethylline and the presence of amphetamine in combination with caffeine, quinine and several other substances. 10 Tablets with the "Captagon" logo have also been seized in Turkey, where illegal production was also discovered.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of amphetamines illegally produced in Serbia

Nevešćanin¹,

Banovic-Stevic²,

Petrović³

et al. 2008

JSCS

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Forensic practice in the Republic of Serbia faced the illegal production of amphetamine for the first time in 2003. This paper presents the results of the chemical characterization of 32 batches of amphetamine samples from three separate cases, for the purpose of identification of the active components and additives. Through the profiling of impurities of all samples, using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), 30 compounds associated with amphetamine were identified. The results of the analysis of powder tartrate, sulfate and phosphate salts of amphetamine, as well as variously formulated tablets are presented in this study. The analyses showed that the amphetamines were synthesized by the Leuckart method in all cases.

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Chemical characterization of counterfeit captagon tablets seized in Jordan

Cited by 33 publications

References 2 publications

The usefulness of simple X-ray powder diffraction analysis for counterfeit control—The Viagra® example

The usefulness of simple X-ray powder diffraction analysis for counterfeit control—The Viagra® example

Vaccine-driven pharmacodynamic dissection and mitigation of fenethylline psychoactivity

Analysis of amphetamines illegally produced in Serbia

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