Screening Method for the Detection of Methamphetamine in Hair Using Fluorescence Polarization Immunoassay

Abstract

A hair screening method has been developed for the detection of methamphetamine using an immunoassay analyzer (AxSYM) with a fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA) technique. The method consisted of washing, cutting and digesting a hair sample (5 mg) with an enzymatic digestion solution. The digested hair sample was centrifuged, and then an aliquot of the supernatant was used to conduct the screening. The results obtained from FPIA, in most cases, showed concentrations above 70.0 ng/mL of methamphetamine for hair samples that contained 0.5 ng/mg of methamphetamine, determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The percent sensitivity, defined as the true positive rate of screened and confirmed results, and the percent specificity, defined as the true negative rate of screened and confirmed results, of the FPIA screening method were 100.0 and 96.7% (false positive rate of 3.3%), respectively, when the threshold level for FPIA analysis was set at 70.0 ng/mL (n = 60).The correlation coefficient (r) for the linear relationship between FPIA and GC-MS results was 0.91 in real hair samples. The recommended amount of hair sample was found to be 5.0 mg for FPIA screening analysis when the concentration of methamphetamine in hair samples determined by GC-MS was found to be more than 0.5 ng/mg. The method developed in this study was reliable and effective for the screening of methamphetamine in routine hair analysis.

Electrospun Nanofibrous Membrane-Based Colorimetric Device for Rapid and Simple Screening of Amphetamine-Type Stimulants in Drinks

“…As these drugs can cause physical weakness or loss of consciousness, individuals become unable to protect themselves and are vulnerable to crime. ,, To prevent drug-facilitated crimes, countermeasures are necessary to avoid the unintentional ingestion of drugs. Many technologies, including mass spectrometry, infrared spectrometry, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry, thin-layer chromatography (TLC), ultraviolet spectroscopy, immunoassays, urine dipstick tests, and spot/color tests, have been developed for drug testing. − In particular, mass spectrometry-based technologies such as liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry enable the qualitative and quantitative analysis of drugs with high resolution. − These techniques are commonly applied in forensic drug analysis. In addition, various indicators, such as cobalt nitrate, oxammonium chloride/ferric chloride, saturated potassium dichromate, toluene/cobalt thiocyanate, and chromium­(IV) oxide/sulfuric acid carbodiimide salts, have been developed that chemically react with illegal drugs, causing a specific color depending on the drug. , These drug screening techniques are effective for the highly sensitive detection of trace amounts of drugs in biological samples (blood, urine, hair, sweat, and exhaled breath). ,,,− ,− That is, these techniques are focused on postconsumption detection to determine whether a person is taking or has taken drugs.…”

Study on the Extraction Rate of Morphine Before and After Hair Grinding

“…Research hotspots [3][4][5][6]. Current research results show that the extraction rate of morphine in unmilled hair is low [7][8][9][10][11][12]. In view of the low detection rate of morphine in unmilled hair, we conducted a study on the extraction of morphine from the ground hair, trying to increase the positive detection rate of morphine in the hair of morphine suspects, and more accurately determine drug addiction.…”

Stimuli Response of Eu3+-Based Metallo-Supramolecular Polymers toward Pharmaceutical Amines

“…Numerous detection techniques and devices were reported for illicit drugs and psychoactive substances based on IR and Raman spectroscopy, 5−8 gas and liquid chromatography combined with mass spectroscopy 9,10 alongside colorimetric 11−13 and immunoassays. 14,15 Part of these analytical methods requires expert handling of complex and expensive laboratory equipment, while others allow only qualitative response or low selectivity and may suffer from photobleaching. Luminescence spectroscopy is a highly sensitive, rapid technique that enables a simple, portable option for specific detection of these chemical substances.…”