Detection of amfepramone and its metabolite cathinone in human hair: Application to a uthentic cases of amfepramone use

Abstract

In recent years, overseas anti‐obesity drugs including amfepramone have flowed into China through the internet or personal import by travelers. Amfepramone is controlled in China and is not available as a pharmaceutical product. It is obtainable either through the internet or imported by individuals across the border. The abuse of amfepramone is causing serious health problems. A method for the detection and quantification of amfepramone and its metabolite cathinone in human hair was developed and fully validated using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). Approximately 10 mg of hair was weighed and pulverized with extraction solvent (a mixture of methanol: acetonitrile: 2 mM ammonium formate [pH 5.3] [25:29:46, v/v/v]). The limit of detection (LOD) and the limit of quantitation (LOQ) were 5 and 10 pg/mg, respectively. The method was linear over a concentration range from 10 to 10,000 pg/mg. The accuracy varied from −9.3% to 2.3%, with acceptable intra‐ and inter‐day precision. The validated method was successfully applied to 17 authentic cases. The amfepramone concentrations ranged from 11.7 to 209 pg/mg, with a median of 30.2 pg/mg, and the hair cathinone concentrations ranged from 11.9 to 507 pg/mg, with a median of 54.0 pg/mg. This is the first report of amfepramone concentrations in human hair from amfepramone users. Cathinone can be incorporated into hair after amfepramone use.

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“…The LC–MS/MS method has a high degree of accuracy, authenticity, and sensitivity [ 70–72 ]. The results for MSI and LC–MS/MS were quantitatively uniform because when the coefficient of determination R 2 is close to 1, the two variables are considered to be highly correlated, and the reference value of the related equation is higher.…”