Evaluation of a lateral flow immunoassay for the detection of the synthetic opioid fentanyl

Abstract

In the United States in 2016, 64,000 overdose deaths were reported to be associated with the abuse of opioids, including prescription painkillers (e.g. oxycodone), opiates (e.g. heroin), or synthetic opioids (e.g. fentanyl). The recent spike in the presence of synthetic opioids in lots of heroin distributed on the street present specific and significant challenges to law enforcement. Synthetic opioids are extremely toxic substances, which can easily be inhaled. This type of exposure can lead to accidental overdoses by law enforcement and other first responders answering calls involving illicit drugs containing these substances. Due to this extreme toxicity, it is important for these individuals to have tools that can be easily deployed for accurate presumptive field tests. Currently, there are only a limited number of presumptive tests available for fentanyl detection. In this study, we addressed this technology gap by evaluating newly developed lateral flow immunoassays (LFIs) designed for the detection of fentanyl and its derivatives. These LFIs were

The rising crisis of illicit fentanyl use, overdose, and potential therapeutic strategies

“…Multiplex ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC–MS)/liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS–MS)/liquid chromatography–quadrupole time-of-flight–mass spectrometry (LC–QTOF–MS) analyses have also been developed and validated for the detection of fentanyl and its analogs and metabolites in blood, hair, and oral fluid, which will be helpful for informing harm reduction behaviors and combating the fentanyl crisis 49–52 . A newly developed lateral flow immunoassay was also evaluated for effectiveness in the detection of fentanyl analogs 53 .…”

The use of lateral flow immunoassays for the detection of fentanyl in seized drug samples and postmortem urine

“…Two different configurations of fentanyl‐specific LFIs, dipsticks (for urine) and cassettes (for saliva), were purchased from Express Diagnostics International (Blue Earth, MN; currently known as HealthCare America Corp.); both LFIs were extensively evaluated in a previous study [15]. Currently, these LFIs are labeled by the manufacturer as “For Forensic Use Only” and do not have approval for in vitro diagnostic use in the United States.…”

“…Currently, these LFIs are labeled by the manufacturer as “For Forensic Use Only” and do not have approval for in vitro diagnostic use in the United States. Both types of LFIs were used as previously described with slight modifications accounting for the specified test matrix [15]. Both tests (dipsticks, cassettes) are competitive LFIs; following treatment with the test substance, the formation of a single band in the control area indicated a positive result (i.e., the presence of fentanyl above the LFI’s LOD), whereas the formation of two bands (in the control area and test area), even if faint, indicated a negative result.…”

“…Briefly, drug chemists diluted 10 mg of individual case samples in 1 mL HPLC‐grade water (Fisher Scientific; Cat #: W5‐1; Hampton, NH) and vortexed for 30 s prior to evaluation. LFI tests were then performed (dipsticks, cassettes) as stated in the Fentanyl‐specific LFIs section above and as previously described [15]. For the fentanyl dipsticks, 100 µL aliquots of each diluted sample were pipetted into the wells of a 96‐well plate in triplicate.…”

Detection of saliva morphine using surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy combined with immunochromatographic assay

“…Alongside with the high specificity of immunoassay methods, ICA has the advantages of rapidness, low cost, and fairly good shelf life . Until now, several reports using ICA for identifying drug abuse have been published . However, with the visualization of the color changes of the test strips as the decision criterion for the presence states of the target analytes, ICA cannot be used for quantitative analysis.…”