Monitoring Drug Use with a Sweat Patch: An Experiment with Cocaine

Abstract

Eighteen male subjects participated in a clinical study to examine a skin patch method of monitoring drug use. On the first day of each of two periods, 14 Band-aid type collection devices (sweat patches) were applied to a subject's torso, biceps, and back. On the following day, the subject took 50 or 126 mg cocaine hydrochloride intranasally. A 1-week interval separated treatment periods, and the order of dose levels was counterbalanced. On the days subjects received cocaine, one patch was removed before treatment, and five were removed after treatment. Subjects then returned over the next 7 days for removal of the remaining patches. They provided urine samples immediately after each patch removal. A group of 18 nondrug users also wore patches for up to 12 days. Analysis of the patch content yielded cocaine levels from the cocaine subjects that accurately reflected usage. Mean levels for 16 subjects were significantly different for the two treatment doses. However, given the between-dose and between-subject variability, the data cannot be used to determine either dose or time of use. The data do indicate, however, that the patch technology can be used to diagnose a single episode of cocaine use as far back as 7 days.

Chromatographic Methodologies for Analysis of Cocaine and Its Metabolites in Biological Matrices

“…These patches can be worn comfortably for several days (usually one week). This allows an accumulation of cocaine in the patch over the days, which is very useful, for example, for monitoring patients on drug-abuse treatment or epidemiologic surveys on cocaine-use in a given population (Burns & Baselt, 1995;Chawarski et al, 2007;Kidwell et al, 1997;Preston et al, 1999).…”

“…Part of the drug may as well be reabsorbed into the skin or degraded in the patch (Burns & Baselt, 1995;Donovan et al, 2011;Huestis et al, 1999;Kidwell et al, 1998;Kidwell et al, 2003).…”

“…An early controlled study demonstrated that cocaine is detected in sweat samples up to 48 hours after administration (Cone et al, 1994b), but subsequent works suggested a window of detection as long as one week (Burns & Baselt, 1995;Kintz, 1996). Nonetheless, cocaine concentration in sweat is an indicator of a relatively recent use (Chawarski et al, 2007;Kidwell et al, 1997).…”

Usefulness of Sweat Testing for the Detection of Cannabis Smoke

“…Success in sweat testing for several drugs of abuse (4,(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13) has been accomplished because of substantial advances in sample collection and improved accuracy of measurement methods. An important advance is the development of the sweat patch technology (14 ), used by Saito et al (15 ) to detect ⌬ 9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in sweat, as reported in this issue of Clinical Chemistry.…”

“…An important advance is the development of the sweat patch technology (14 ), used by Saito et al (15 ) to detect ⌬ 9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in sweat, as reported in this issue of Clinical Chemistry. Sweat patches applied to the skin allow oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor to escape, whereas the nonvolatile components, including drugs of abuse, are retained in the absorbent pad (8 ). Further extraction of drugs from the patch is required, but analyses are relatively easy because the chemical composition of sweat is simple compared with that of blood or urine.…”