GC-MS/MS detects potential pregabalin abuse in susceptible subjects' hair
| Autor: | Roccaldo Sardella, Kyriaki Aroni, Mauro Bacci, Massimo Lancia, Benedetto Natalini, Cristiana Gambelunghe, Federica Ianni, Alessio Gili |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2018 |
| Předmět: |
Adult
Male medicine.medical_specialty Pregabalin Pharmaceutical Science pregabalin abuse Sensitivity and Specificity 01 natural sciences Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Analytical Chemistry Young Adult 03 medical and health sciences Epilepsy 0302 clinical medicine Limit of Detection Tandem Mass Spectrometry Internal medicine medicine Humans Environmental Chemistry Spectroscopy ethyl chloroformate derivative business.industry 010401 analytical chemistry Hair analysis Opioid-Related Disorders GC–MS/MS Middle Aged medicine.disease 0104 chemical sciences Substance Abuse Detection Neuropathic pain Female hair analysis pregabalin Opiate business 030217 neurology & neurosurgery Hair medicine.drug Methadone |
| Popis: | Pregabalin, a GABA analogue, binds to the alpha 2 delta subunit of voltage-dependent calcium channels. It is recognised as efficacious in pathologies such as epilepsy, neuropathic pain, and anxiety disorders. Since pregabalin prescriptions have increased worldwide, reports of its abuse have been accumulating, mainly in patients with opioid abuse disorders. The present study investigated potential pregabalin abuse by means of hair analysis, a matrix that provides valuable retrospective information. Half of the pool of 280 susceptible patients had been occasional drug users and were being monitored for driving licence renewals. The other 140 patients had a history of opiate dependency and were monitored to assess compliance with methadone therapy. In view of determining pregabalin in hair samples, it was extracted in methanol, successfully derivatised to give the ethyl chloroformate derivative, and finally pregabalin was analysed by gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Selectivity, linearity, limit of detection, limit of quantification, recovery, intra- and inter-day precision, and accuracy of the quantification procedure were appraised. Pregabalin limits of detection and quantification were 30 pg/mg and 50 pg/mg, respectively. We found 10.7% of hair samples from methadone patients and 4.29% from occasional drug users were positive to pregabalin without medical prescription. The mean pregabalin concentration in hair was higher than in consumers with medical indications (1.45 ng/mg vs 0.74 ng/mg). These results suggest that pregabalin possesses a significant abuse potential particularly among individuals attending opiate dependence services and that pregabalin abuse is a serious emerging issue, which should be carefully monitored. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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