Piperazine derivatives as dangerous abused compounds

Abstract

Piperazine derivatives are a group of compounds with a psychostimulant effect. They are an alternative to illegal drugs. They are being searched for recreational use due to their psychoactive and hallucinogenic effects. The high popularity of these compounds can be noticed all over the world due to easy purchase, lack of legal regulations and incorrect assessment of the safety of use. The recreational use of piperazine derivatives can often result in chronic and acute health problems and additionally with unpredictable remote effects. It is also common to take mixtures of psychoactive compounds. This hinders the correct diagnosis and treatment of patients with poisoning. The presented work is an illustration of the wide problem of piperazine derivatives abuse. The health effects and the possibility of identifying these compounds in preparations and biological material are described.

Comparison of LC-MS and LC-DAD Methods of Detecting Abused Piperazine Designer Drugs

“…The structural modifications of piperazine derivatives are also similar to the known amphetamine-derived compounds [ 18 ]. Chemically, these compounds are derived from piperazine, an organic heterocyclic compound with two nitrogen atoms in the opposite position [ 10 , 19 , 20 ]. Due to their structure, all piperazine derivatives can be divided into two groups: benzylpiperazines, e.g., N-benzylpiperazine (BZP), 1-(3,4-methylenedioxybenzyl)piperazine (MDBP), 1-(4-fluorobenzyl)piperazine (pFBP), 1,4-dibenzylpiperazine (DBZP); and phenylpiperazines, e.g., 1-(3-trifluoromethylphenyl)piperazine (TFMPP), 1-(3-chlorophenyl)piperazine (mCPP), 1-(4-parafluorophenyl)piperazine (pFPP), 1-(4-methoxyphenyl)piperazine (MeOPP).…”

“…Mixtures of piperazines with other psychoactive substances, such as MDMA, ketamine, amphetamines, cocaine, cannabis, diazepam (benzodiazepines) and ephedrine are also common [ 24 , 26 , 33 ]. They may also be contained in products advertised to potential users as ecstasy or amphetamines [ 14 , 19 , 29 , 41 ].…”

“…These compounds have been shown to be potentially cardiotoxic [ 42 , 43 ], hepatotoxic [ 14 , 44 ], neurotoxic [ 38 , 45 , 46 ], nephrotoxic [ 33 ] and endocrine disrupting [ 10 , 47 ]. All piperazine designer drugs can result in dangerous health problems [ 10 , 19 , 26 , 40 ]. Even accidental ingestion can lead to severe poisoning or death [ 26 , 29 , 37 ].…”

“…In order to prove the involvement of piperazine designer drugs in the event of poisoning, information provided by clinicians about the symptoms of poisoning is required [ 19 ]. In clinical settings, toxicity is usually associated with the consequences of overdosing on recreational drugs [ 33 ].…”

“…LC-MS becomes an increasingly commonly used apparatus, however, although many methods were published until now, piperazine designer drugs are not part of the routine approach in laboratory analysis [ 26 ]. It should be emphasized that piperazine designer drugs are compounds that cause serious toxicity even at regular, standard doses [ 19 , 26 , 33 ]. Often these compounds are used in mixtures with other known stimulants, which makes it very difficult to identify [ 24 , 29 , 33 , 37 , 70 ].…”