Activity-based detection of synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists in plant materials.

BACKGROUND: Since late 2019, fortification of 'regular' cannabis plant material with synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCRAs) has become a notable phenomenon on the drug market. As many SCRAs pose a higher health risk than genuine cannabis, recognizing SCRA-adulterated cannabis is important from a harm reduction perspective. However, this is not always an easy task as adulterated cannabis may only be distinguished from genuine cannabis by dedicated, often expensive and time-consuming analytical techniques. In addition, the dynamic nature of the SCRA market renders identification of fortified samples a challenging task. Therefore, we established and applied an in vitro cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1) activity-based procedure to screen plant material for the presence of SCRAs. METHODS: The assay principle relies on the functional complementation of a split-nanoluciferase following recruitment of ß-arrestin 2 to activated CB1. A straightforward sample preparation, encompassing methanolic extraction and dilution, was optimized for plant matrices, including cannabis, spiked with 5 µg/mg of the SCRA CP55,940. RESULTS: The bioassay successfully detected all samples of a set (n = 24) of analytically confirmed authentic Spice products, additionally providing relevant information on the 'strength' of a preparation and whether different samples may have originated from separate batches or possibly the same production batch. Finally, the methodology was applied to assess the occurrence of SCRA adulteration in a large set (n = 252) of herbal materials collected at an international dance festival. This did not reveal any positives, i.e. there were no samples that yielded a relevant CB1 activation. CONCLUSION: In summary, we established SCRA screening of herbal materials as a new application for the activity-based CB1 bioassay. The simplicity of the sample preparation, the rapid results and the universal character of the bioassay render it an effective and future-proof tool for evaluating herbal materials for the presence of SCRAs, which is relevant in the context of harm reduction.

Evaluation of an electrochemical sensor and comparison with spectroscopic approaches as used today in practice for harm reduction in a festival setting-A case study: Analysis of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine samples.

More and more countries and organisations emphasise the value of harm reduction measures in the context of illicit drug use and abuse. One of these measures is drug checking, a preventive action that can represent a quick win by tailored consultation on the risks of substance use upon analytical screening of a submitted sample. Unlike drop-in centres that operate within a fixed setting, enabling drug checking in a harm reduction context at events requires portable, easy to use analytical approaches, operated by personnel with limited knowledge of analytical chemistry. In this case study, four different approaches were compared for the characterisation of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine samples and this in the way the approaches would be applied today in an event context. The four approaches are mid-infrared (MIR), near-infrared, and Raman spectroscopy, which are today used in drug checking context in Belgium, as well as an electrochemical sensor approach initially developed in the context of law enforcement at ports. The MIR and the electrochemical approach came out best, with the latter allowing for a direct straightforward analysis of the percentage 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (as base equivalent) in the samples. However, MIR has the advantage that, in a broader drug checking context, it allows to screen for several molecules and so is able to identify unexpected active components or at least the group to which such components belong. The latter is also an important advantage in the context of the growing emergence of new psychotropic substances.

Qualitative and semi-quantitative screening of selected psychoactive drugs in blood: Usefulness of liquid chromatography - triple quadrupole and quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry in routine toxicological analyses.

Routine toxicological analysis requires broad screening for a large number of therapeutically prescribed and other compounds, and/or their metabolites. This article specifically focuses on three classes of psychoactive substances: antidepressants (ADs), antipsychotics (APs) and benzodiazepines and Z-drugs (BZDs). Two screening methods were compared for their ease-of-use in a routine setting, based upon the analysis of 105 medico-legal case samples. Analytes of interest were extracted using liquid-liquid extraction and separated using liquid chromatography with a total run time of 12 min per sample. A first detection method used targeted triple quadrupole mass spectrometry, operated in triggered multiple reaction monitoring mode (tMRM). False negative results were noted for 15% of the total number of detected analytes only, the majority of which were either present at sub- to low therapeutic levels or were metabolites of other analytes in the samples. The occurrence of false positive results was rare. A second screening method used quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (QTOF) for untargeted data acquisition. Data analysis was facilitated by the creation of an in-house, subset mass spectral database. As was seen for the tMRM screening, false negative results were observed in less than 20% of the total number of detected analytes, either for compounds at low concentrations or of which metabolites could be identified in the samples. More false positive results were observed due to an observed bias for prothipendyl. Determination of the exact concentration in a sample may only be required depending on the specific case circumstances. For this purpose, semi-quantification using each of the screening methods was investigated. Excellent results were observed using the tMRM method in combination with a small number of labelled internal standards (n = 12). Semi-quantification using the QTOF screening method was more laborious, but limited results on selected compounds indicated equally good results. Overall, the developed semi-quantitative screening methods performed well and - following further validation on case samples - could be implemented for most compounds in routine toxicological analysis without the need for highly trained or specialised personnel.

Multi-analyte LC-MS/MS quantification of 38 antipsychotics and metabolites in plasma: Method validation & application to routine analyses.

The past decades have seen a rise in the prescription of antipsychotic drugs in the European population, despite the risk of extra-pyramidal, metabolic and cardiac side effects. A multi-analyte liquid chromatography - triple quadrupole mass spectrometry method was developed for the quantification of 38 antipsychotic drugs in plasma. Samples were extracted by a straightforward liquid-liquid extraction with methyl-tertiary-butyl-ether and the compounds of interest were chromatographically separated within 6 min. Calibration curves covered the recommended therapeutic range for all compounds, in addition to sub- and supratherapeutic concentrations for most. The method was successfully validated according to the European Medicines Agency guidelines on bioanalytical method validation. Analysis of medico-legal samples confirmed the relatively common use of the second generation antipsychotics quetiapine and olanzapine, as well as the continued presence of the first generation antipsychotic haloperidol.

Quantification of 54 Benzodiazepines and Z-Drugs, Including 20 Designer Ones, in Plasma.

Benzodiazepines are widely used in the treatment of sleep and anxiety disorders, as well as epileptic seizures and alcohol withdrawal because of their broad therapeutic index and low cost. Due to their central nervous system depressant effects they are also often implicated in traffic accidents and drug-related intoxications. With an increasing number of designer benzodiazepines used in a recreational setting, there is a need for analytical methods to be able to quantify both the prescribed and designer benzodiazepines. A liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry method was developed for the quantification of 34 prescribed and 20 designer benzodiazepines in plasma. Different sample preparation strategies, including protein precipitation, liquid-liquid extraction, solid-phase extraction and mini-QuEChERS, were tested. The best recoveries for all compounds of interest were obtained with a liquid-liquid extraction using methyl-tertiary-butyl-ether and 500 µL plasma. The method was fully validated according to the European Medicines Agency guidelines for all compounds, except pivoxazepam, which is included for qualitative purposes only. In-sample stability issues were observed for cloxazolam, both at ambient temperature and during long-term storage at -20°C. Due to the large number of compounds included, the simple and time-efficient sample preparation and the relatively inexpensive instrumentation used, the presented method can be readily implemented in both therapeutic drug monitoring and forensic analyses.

Development and validation of an analytical procedure to detect spatio-temporal differences in antidepressant use through a wastewater-based approach.

Wastewater-based epidemiology applies the analysis of human metabolic excretion products of xenobiotics in wastewater to estimate the community-wide use of these compounds. A new bioanalytical method was developed, optimised and validated for the analysis of a broad range of antidepressants and their metabolites at trace concentrations in influent wastewater. The assay was based on solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. For most compounds, Oasis® HLB cartridges were used for sample preparation. Oasis® MCX cartridges were used for extraction of normirtazapine, moclobemide, sertraline, and melitracen in particular. The Kinetex XBC18 column with a gradient elution resulted in appropriate separation for the analytes under investigation. Validation was done according to the European Medicines Agency guidelines on bioanalytical method validation. For 27 compounds, the performance criteria met the requirements for method validation. For these analytes, the lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) ranged between 1 and 25 ng/L. Furthermore, all targeted biomarkers showed high in-sample stability during 24 h, with the exception of mianserin. The validated assay was applied to influent wastewater samples collected from four wastewater treatment plants in Belgium. Among these four locations, a total of 18 out of 27 biomarkers for antidepressant use were present in the samples in concentrations above the LLOQ. Additionally, the proposed methodology proved capable of analysing high resolution spatio-temporal trends. Mann-Kendall trend analyses showed that antidepressant use is stable throughout the week, except for trazodone which increased throughout the week.

Suspect and non-target screening workflows to investigate the in vitro and in vivo metabolism of the synthetic cannabinoid 5Cl-THJ-018.

The use of synthetic cannabinoids causes similar effects as Δ9 -tetrahydrocannabinol and long-term (ab)use can lead to health hazards and fatal intoxications. As most investigated synthetic cannabinoids undergo extensive biotransformation, almost no parent compound can be detected in urine, which hampers forensic investigations. Limited information about the biotransformation products of new synthetic cannabinoids makes the detection of these drugs in various biological matrices challenging. This study aimed to identify the main in vitro biotransformation pathways of 5Cl-THJ-018 and to compare these findings with an authentic urine sample of a 5Cl-THJ-018 user. The synthetic cannabinoid was incubated with pooled human liver microsomes and cytosol to simulate phase I and phase II biotransformations. Resulting extracts were analyzed with liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-QTOF-MS). Three different data analysis workflows were applied to identify biotransformation products. A suspect screening workflow used an in-house database built from literature data and in silico biotransformation predictions. Two non-target screening workflows used a commercially available software and an open-source software for mass spectrometry data processing. A total of 23 in vitro biotransformation products were identified, with hydroxylation, oxidative dechlorination, and dihydrodiol formation pathways as the main phase I reactions. Additionally, five glucuronidated and three sulfated phase II conjugates were identified. The predominant in vivo pathway was through oxidative dechlorination and in total six metabolites of 5Cl-THJ-018 were identified. Biotransformation products both in vitro and in vivo were successfully identified using complementary suspect and non-target screening workflows.

Validation of a simple, fast liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the simultaneous quantification of 40 antidepressant drugs or their metabolites in plasma.

INTRODUCTION: Antidepressant (AD) use has increased significantly over the last decades. Therapeutic drug monitoring is recommended for compliance, toxicity and treatment efficiency. ADs also show a high prevalence in forensic cases. Few methods have been developed that combine a fast, easy sample clean-up with a quantification based on liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC-QQQ). METHODOLOGY: A liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) was performed using 200 µL of plasma. The evaporated and reconstituted upper fraction was injected on a LC-QQQ system monitoring 3 transitions per compound. The method was fully validated according to international guidelines. RESULTS & DISCUSSION: The chromatographic run time was under 12 min. The LLE was successful in removing interferences with minimal sensitivity loss. Calibration curves ranged from sub-therapeutic to toxic concentrations. Quality control samples showed high accuracy (81%-119%) and precision (≤14%) within and between batches. Stability was tested at ambient temperature and -20 °C. The method was successfully applied to external quality control and case samples. CONCLUSION: The presented method successfully quantifies 40 compounds of interest. Because of a simple sample clean-up, a relatively short chromatographic run and a wide calibration range this method can be implemented in therapeutic drug monitoring, forensic research and related fields.

In vitro Phase I and Phase II metabolism of the new designer benzodiazepine cloniprazepam using liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

Designer benzodiazepines have recently emerged as a class of new psychoactive substances. These substances are used in recreational settings and as alternatives to prescription benzodiazepines as self-medication for patients suffering from anxiety or other mental disorders. Due to the limited information available on the metabolic fate of these new substances, it is challenging to reliably detect their usage in bioanalytical (e.g. clinical and forensic) settings. The objective of this study was to investigate the in vitro Phase I and Phase II metabolism of the new designer benzodiazepine cloniprazepam and identify potential biomarkers for its detection in human biological fluids. Cloniprazepam was incubated with human liver microsomes and cytosolic fractions to generate both Phase I and II metabolites. The extracts were analysed using liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Identification of the metabolites was performed using two complementary workflows, including a suspect screening based on in silico predictions and a non-targeted screening. A total of nine metabolites were identified, eight Phase I metabolites and one Phase II metabolite, of which five were specific for cloniprazepam. Clonazepam was the major metabolite of cloniprazepam. Hydroxy-cloniprazepam, dihydroxy-cloniprazepam, 3-keto-cloniprazepam, 7-amino-cloniprazepam, hydroxy-clonazepam, 7-amino-clonazepam and 3-hydroxy-7-amino-clonazepam were formed through oxidation, hydroxylation, and/or reduction of the nitro-group. Glucuronidated hydroxy-cloniprazepam was the only Phase II metabolite detected. Five metabolites were specific for cloniprazepam. This study provided a set of human in vitro biotransformation products which can assist specific detection of cloniprazepam consumption in future studies.