Two immunoassays for the detection of 2C-B and related hallucinogenic phenethylamines.

INTRODUCTION: The use of new psychoactive substances as drugs of abuse has dramatically increased over the last years. Hallucinogenic phenethylamines gained particular popularity as they have both stimulating and psychedelic effects. Although generally perceived as safe, these illicit drugs pose a serious health risk; they have been linked to cases of severe poisoning or even deaths. Therefore, simple, cost-effective and reliable methods are needed for rapid determination of abused hallucinogens. METHODS: For this purpose, two haptens derived from 2C-H were designed, synthesized and subsequently attached to a carrier protein. Polyclonal antibodies obtained from a rabbit immunized with one of the prepared immunogens were used for the development of two immunoassays. RESULTS: In this study, a lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) and an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of 2C-B and related hallucinogenic phenethylamines in urine were developed. The presented LFIA is primarily suitable for on-site monitoring as it is simple and can provide a visual evidence of 2C-B presence within a few minutes. Its reasonable sensitivity (LODLFIA = 15 ±â€¯7 ng mL-1) allows detection of the drug presence in urine after acute exposure. For greater accuracy, highly sensitive ELISA (LODELISA = 6 ±â€¯3 pg mL-1) is proposed for toxicological quantitative analyses of positive samples captured by the LFIA. DISCUSSION: The comparison of the ELISA with the well-established UHPLC-MS-MS method shows excellent agreement of results, which confirms good potential of the ELISA to be used for routine analyses of 2C-B and related hallucinogenic phenethylamines of both main sub-families.

Methodical investigation of the production of antibodies towards 3,4-dimethoxyphenylethylamine.

In this study the synthesis of various antigens from 3,4-dimethoxyphenylethylamine (3,4-DMPEA) is described. Antigen A was formed by coupling the acylated side chain of 3,4-DMPEA to the protein, while antigen B was synthesized by introducing an acylated amino group to the benzene ring and linking this reactive group to the protein. With antigen A an antiserum with a titer of 1 : 16000 could be raised, while with antigen B coupled to human albumin and bovine gamma-globulin the antiserum had a titer of 1 :1000 and 1 : 4000. Antibodies formed by immunization with antigen A exhibited a high specificity for substituents of the benzene ring, but were less specific for substituents of the side chain. Antibodies formed by treatment with the antigen B were specific for both kinds of substituents. So far, it has not been possible to harvest any specific antibodies towards the corresponding antigens of dopamine.