Retrospective analysis of new psychoactive substances in blood samples of German drivers suspected of driving under the influence of drugs

Fels, Helena; Herzog, Josefine; Skopp, Gisela; Holzer, Anna; Paul, Liane D.; Graw, Matthias; Mußhoff, Frank

doi:10.1002/dta.2897

Cited by 17 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Detailed information is described in Table 1 and in Table A of Supplementary material for human and animal studies collected, respectively. Additionally, 13 articles reported cases of DUI of SCs (56)(57)(58)(59)(60)(61)(62)(63)(64)(65)(66)(67)(68). Papers focused on humans tested several domains related to safe driving, which included cognitive and integrative functions (visuospatial and executive functions, attention, memory, planning, information processing speed, response inhibition), emotional processing and motor performance.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, it allows an untargeted screening involving emerging compounds ( 80 ). By using LC-QTOF-MS coupled with LC-MS/MS, Fels et al found the presence of SCs in 12 of 837 blood samples collected from suspected German DUI cases in 2017–2018 ( 59 ). Similar results are described in literature from samples obtained during police checks or following road accidents ( 56 , 57 , 60 , 61 , 63 ), making it possible to ascertain that SCs consumption while driving is a widespread reality.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similar findings, and psychomotor impairment, were noted from very low blood/serum/plasma levels, although the comparison between studies is limited by analytical issues as well as the different sampling times. Another point to consider is that NPS might be consumed in a setting of polydrug use, resulting in possible synergies and amplification of the effects ( 59 , 61 , 66 , 84 ). In a recent paper, Funada et al demonstrate that ethanol-induced motor impairments are enhanced when consumed with SC ( 85 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of synthetic cannabinoids on psychomotor, sensory and cognitive functions relevant for safe driving

et al. 2022

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Recreational use of Synthetic Cannabinoids (SCs), one of the largest groups of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS), has increased globally over the past few years. Driving is a structured process requiring the cooperation of several cognitive and psychomotor functions, organized in different levels of complexity. Each of these functions can be affected when Driving Under the Influence (DUI) of SCs. In order to reduce the likelihood of SC-related road accidents, it is essential to understand which areas of psychomotor performance are most affected by these substances, as well as the severity of impairment. For this purpose, a multiple database- literature review of recent experimental studies in humans and animals regarding the psychomotor effects of SCs has been performed. Despite the many limitations connected to experimental studies on humans, results showed a consistency between animal and human data. SCs appear to impair psychomotor performance in humans, affecting different domains related to safe driving even at low doses. Cases of DUI of SC have been repeatedly reported, although the exact prevalence is likely to be underestimated due to current analytical and interpretative issues. For this reason, an accurate physical examination performed by trained and experienced personnel has a primary role in recognizing signs of impairment in case of strong suspicion of SC consumption. The identification of a suspected case should be followed by reliable laboratory examination.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of synthetic cannabinoids on psychomotor, sensory and cognitive functions relevant for safe driving

et al. 2022

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“…LC-MS/MS analysis for detecting synthetic cannabinoids was performed on an Agilent 1290 Infinity system (Agilent Technologies), coupled to a QTRAP 6500 + system (Sciex, Darmstadt, Germany), and operated in sMRM mode with positive ESI. The method is described in detail elsewhere [27]. Briefly, chromatographic separation was achieved on a Kinetex C 18 reversed-phase column (3.0 × 50 mm, particle size 2.6 µm) (Phenomenex, Aschaffenburg, Germany).…”

Section: Lc-ms/ms Analysis For the Detection Of Synthetic Cannabinoidsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unexpected results found in larvae samples from two postmortem forensic cases

Groth¹,

Franz²,

Fels³

et al. 2021

Forensic Toxicol

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Purpose In forensics, entomological specimens can be used as additional/alternative matrices to detect xenobiotics when human specimens are limited in their application. Despite some advantages over implementing putrefied human remains, most medico-legal laboratories do not include entomotoxicological procedures as routine analytical methods. We thus applied two authentic cases to evaluate necrophagous larvae’s potential as complementary matrices for toxicological analysis after extensive postmortem decomposition. Methods Larvae and postmortem human samples, including hair, stomach contents, pericardial fluid, liver, lung, and skeletal muscle, were collected at autopsy. Samples were analyzed by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography–quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry for pharmaceutical substances, illicit drugs, and new psychoactive substances, including synthetic cannabinoids, benzodiazepines, new synthetic opioids, and stimulants. Results Nearly all substances detected in human specimens, including several benzodiazepines and synthetic cannabinoids, were also detected in larvae. Surprisingly, some drugs, including the new psychoactive substances EAM-2201 and U-47700, were found exclusively in larvae and hair. The benzodiazepine etizolam was detected only in liver, lungs, and stomach contents, possibly resulting from characteristic tissue distribution in humans and/or larvae. Conclusions Antemortem external hair contamination with synthetic cannabinoids from side-stream smoke and postmortem hair contamination with substances in putrefaction fluids can be supposed in these cases. Our findings suggest that supplementary information can indeed be gained from analyzing larvae additional to those human specimens that are typically used for toxicological analysis after extensive postmortem decomposition. Nevertheless, these results represent merely two cases, requiring in-depth studies to determine whether such findings can identify acute intoxications as possible causes of death.

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“…For all these reasons, SSA and NTA are now widely used for chemical analysis of environmental samples, although targeted analysis is still needed as a complementary method for unequivocal identification and more accurate quantification. However, full-scan HRMS also enables the re-analysis of data when the initial data processing workflow has been insufficient [22] or to retrospectively find newly identified or regulated compounds from other studies [23] . This becomes even more useful when the acquisition is performed using full-scan tandem mass spectrometry in data-dependent (DDA) or data-independent (DIA) analysis modes [24] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extended characterization of the indoor dust chemical composition by retrospective suspect and non-target analysis of high resolution mass spectrometric data

Dubocq¹,

Wang²

2022

J Environ Expo Assess

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With the recent improvements in high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), retrospective chemical analysis has been increasingly used in environmental sciences. This enables new insights into the chemical content of previously analysed samples with new data analysis methods or new information about emerging contaminants. This study aimed to conduct an in-depth investigation into the chemical content of various indoor dust samples using retrospective analysis. The samples were previously extracted using liquid-solid extraction without clean-up to increase the chemical coverage and thereafter analysed both using liquid chromatography (positive and negative ionisations) and gas chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry. A retrospective data processing workflow was conducted in this new study by using both suspect screening analysis and non-target analysis. Among 30 dust samples from four different indoor settings, 298 compounds were tentatively identified with an identification confidence level of ≥ 3. The discussion was conducted on both individual compounds as well as their chemical compound groups and functional uses. Main detected chemical groups were plant natural products (n = 57), personal care products (n = 44), pharmaceuticals (n = 44), food additives (n = 43), plasticisers (n = 43), flame retardants (n = 43), colourants (n = 42) and pesticides (n = 31). Although some detected compounds were already reported for the same samples in our previous study, this retrospective analysis enabled the tentative identification of compounds such as polyethylene glycols, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, pesticides, benzotriazoles, benzothiazoles, fragrances, colourants and UV stabilizers. This study showed the usefulness of retrospective analysis on indoor dust samples to further characterise the chemical content, which can help to better estimate the exposure risks of organic contaminants to humans in the indoor environment.

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Retrospective analysis of new psychoactive substances in blood samples of German drivers suspected of driving under the influence of drugs

Cited by 17 publications

References 21 publications

Effects of synthetic cannabinoids on psychomotor, sensory and cognitive functions relevant for safe driving

Effects of synthetic cannabinoids on psychomotor, sensory and cognitive functions relevant for safe driving

Unexpected results found in larvae samples from two postmortem forensic cases

Extended characterization of the indoor dust chemical composition by retrospective suspect and non-target analysis of high resolution mass spectrometric data

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