A dark green liquid seized by police from a member of the Santo Daime religious movement was analyzed using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The extract contained N,N-dimethyltryptamine (a potent hallucinogen) and the beta-carboline alkaloids harmine and harmaline, which inhibit monoamine oxidase A. These substances are typical components of Ayahuasca, a South American psychotropic beverage made by boiling Banisteriopsis caapi bark with Psychotria viridis leaves.
A sensitive method using high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection was developed to measure MDMA, MDA, methamphetamine, and amphetamine in human hair. Drugs were extracted from hair using trifluoroacetic acid in methanol and labeled with a fluorescent reagent. Separation was achieved on a reversed-phase column. Detection limits for MDMA, MDA, methamphetamine, and amphetamine were 0.25, 0.15, 0.25, and 0.19 ng/mg, respectively. Assay precision ranged from 1.5% to 6.8% for intra-day and 2.7% to 4.7% for inter-day measurements. The method was sensitive enough to detect these compounds in small hair samples and was applied to quantify drugs in six abusers' hair.
A method using high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection was developed to simultaneously measure MDMA and its metabolite MDA in rat blood and brain microdialysates. The technique, which involves derivatization with DIB-Cl, achieved linear calibration curves for MDA and MDMA over ranges of 2.5–500 and 5.0–1000 ng/mL, respectively. Detection limits were 1.2 ng/mL for MDA and 4.2 ng/mL for MDMA in blood, and 1.3 and 4.8 ng/mL in brain. Precision was under 5.6%. The method was used to monitor MDMA and MDA in rats and to evaluate pharmacokinetic parameters after MDMA administration with or without caffeine.
A new high-performance liquid chromatography triple quadrupole mass spectrometry method was developed to detect and quantify two designer drugs, 2CC-NBOMe and 25I-NBOMe, in the serum of intoxicated emergency department patients. The method uses solid-phase extraction and is linear over 30–2000 pg/mL, with a detection limit of 10 pg/mL for both compounds. Applied to two severely intoxicated patients, serum concentrations of 25I-NBOMe were 250 and 2780 pg/mL. The method is suitable for clinical toxicology testing.