Ritualistic Use of Ayahuasca versus Street Use of Similar Substances Seized by the Police: A Key Factor Involved in the Potential for Intoxications and Overdose?

The ritualistic use of ayahuasca is becoming a global phenomenon. This beverage contains a combination of monoamine oxidase inhibitors (harmine, harmaline, and tetrahydroharmine) and N,N-dimethyltryptamine, the main substance responsible for its visionary effect. The recreational use of similar alkaloids and N,N-dimethyltryptamine has increased in recent years, mainly because of their hallucinogenic effects. In the present study, the concentrations of psychoactive alkaloids in three powder samples seized by the São Paulo State Police and nine ayahuasca aqueous extracts were analyzed by HPLC-DAD in an attempt to distinguish between illicit drugs and the religious beverage. The alkaloids detected (µg/mL) in the ayahuasca aqueous extracts were N,N-dimethyltryptamine (402-2070.3), harmaline (27.5-181.3), harmine (294.5-2893.8), and tetrahydroharmine (849.5-2052.5), whereas, of the three powder samples, one contained only N,N-dimethyltryptamine (82% and 2% w/w, respectively) while the other contained only harmaline (16%, w/w) and harmine (12%, w/w). The ritualistic use of ayahuasca involves oral intake and the probability of overdose is minimized by serotonergic stimulation of vagal pathways, leading to vomiting and diarrhea. In contrast, the recreational use of N,N-dimethyltryptamine involves consumption mainly by smoking or inhalation, both of which markedly increase its bioavailability and the potential for intoxications.

Using Cluster Analysis and ICP-MS to Identify Groups of Ecstasy Tablets in Sao Paulo State, Brazil.

The variations found in the elemental composition in ecstasy samples result in spectral profiles with useful information for data analysis, and cluster analysis of these profiles can help uncover different categories of the drug. We provide a cluster analysis of ecstasy tablets based on their elemental composition. Twenty-five elements were determined by ICP-MS in tablets apprehended by Sao Paulo's State Police, Brazil. We employ the K-means clustering algorithm along with C4.5 decision tree to help us interpret the clustering results. We found a better number of two clusters within the data, which can refer to the approximated number of sources of the drug which supply the cities of seizures. The C4.5 model was capable of differentiating the ecstasy samples from the two clusters with high prediction accuracy using the leave-one-out cross-validation. The model used only Nd, Ni, and Pb concentration values in the classification of the samples.

Uso da microextração por sorbente empacotado (MEPS) para preparo de amostras em análises toxicológicas envolvendo fármacos benzodiazepí­nico / Microextraction by packed sorbent (MEPS) for sample preparation in toxicological analyses involving benzodiazepines

A microextração por sorbente empacotado (MEPS) é uma técnica de preparo de amostras ainda pouco utilizada no âmbito da toxicologia, em que os mesmos princípios da extração em fase sólida convencional são adaptados para uma escala miniaturizada. As principais vantagens da técnica estão associadas ao pequeno volume de amostra e de solventes utilizados, à possibilidade de realizar múltiplas extrações com um mesmo cartucho e à facilidade de automação. Os benzodiazepínicos possuem grande relevância na toxicologia dada sua ampla utilização e seus efeitos que podem, por exemplo, comprometer a capacidade de dirigir, além do uso abusivo, e como drogas facilitadoras de crimes. Neste trabalho, um método de MEPS foi desenvolvido e otimizado para a determinação de sete benzodiazepínicos e seus produtos de biotransformação (diazepam, clonazepam, flunitrazepam, alprazolam, bromazepam, 7-aminoflunitrazepam e nordiazepam) utilizando 100 µL de amostra de sangue total post mortem. Após a extração, os eluatos foram analisados por cromatografia líquida em fase reversa acoplada a espectrometria de massas. O método foi validado de acordo com as recomendações do Scientific Working Group for Forensic Toxicology, apresentando linearidade adequada de 5 a 500 ng.mL-1 . Os valores de exatidão (90,4 a 109,5%), precisão intra-dia (2,5 a 10,7 %CV) e inter-dia (1,1 a 8,0 %CV) também foram satisfatórios. MEPS foi realizada mais de 60 vezes com a mesma fase extratora sem evidências de contaminação cruzada. Dez amostras reais fornecidas pelo Instituto Médico Legal de São Paulo foram analisadas. Foram quantificados diazepam, nordiazepam, clonazepam e bromazepam. Os resultados encontrados em cada uma das amostras foram comparados com dados da literatura

Microextraction by packed sorbent (MEPS) is a sample preparation technique still little used in toxicology, where the same principles of conventional solid phase extraction are adapted to a miniaturized scale. The main advantages of the technique are associated with the small volume of sample and solvents required, the possibility of performing multiple extractions with the same cartridge and ease process automation. Benzodiazepine drugs are relevant in toxicology because of their widespread use, and effects (which may, for example, compromise the ability to drive vehicles), abuse and records as crime-facilitating drugs. In this work, a MEPS method was developed and optimized for a determination of seven benzodiazepines and their metabolites (diazepam, nordiazepam, clonazepam, flunitrazepam, 7-aminoflunitrazepam, alprazolam, and bromazepam) using 100 µL of post mortem whole blood. After extraction, the eluates were analyzed by reversed-phase liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. The method was validated according to the recommendations of the Scientific Working Group for Forensic Toxicology, presenting adequate linearity from 5 to 500 ng.mL-1 . The values of accuracy (90.4 to 109.5%), intra-day precision (2.5 to 10.7 %CV) and inter-day (1.1 to 8.0 %CV) also presented satisfactory results. MEPS was performed more than 60 times with the same extractive phase without compromising the results with the evidence of carryover. Institute of Legal Medicine were submitted to analysis by MEPS-LC-MS/MS. In these samples, the following analytes were quantified: diazepam, nordiazepam, clonazepam and bromazepam. The results found in each of the samples were compared with data from the literature