Trends in pharmaceutical design of new psychoactive substances detected in oral fluid of drivers around a music festival in south-west France: comparison 2019/2017

Smartphone swabs as an emerging tool for toxicology testing: a proof-of-concept study in a nightclub

OBJECTIVES

Smartphones have become everyday objects on which the accumulation of fingerprints is significant. In addition, a large proportion of the population regularly uses a smartphone, especially younger people. The objective of this study was to evaluate smartphones as a new matrix for toxico-epidemiology.

METHODS

This study was conducted during two separate events (techno and trance) at an electronic music nightclub in Grenoble, France. Data on reported drug use and whether drugs were snorted directly from the surface of the smartphone were collected using an anonymous questionnaire completed voluntarily by drug users. Then, a dry swab was rubbed for 20 s on all sides of the smartphone. The extract was analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry on a Xevo TQ-XS system (Waters).

RESULTS

In total, 122 swabs from 122 drug users were collected. The three main drugs identified were MDMA (n=83), cocaine (n=59), and THC (n=51). Based on declarative data, sensitivity ranged from 73 to 97.2 % and specificity from 71.8 to 88.1 % for MDMA, cocaine, and THC. Other substances were identified such as cocaine adulterants, ketamine, amphetamine, LSD, methamphetamine, CBD, DMT, heroin, mescaline, and several NPS. Numerous medications were also identified, such as antidepressants, anxiolytics, hypnotics, and painkillers. Different use patterns were identified between the two events.

CONCLUSIONS

This proof-of-concept study on 122 subjects shows that smartphone swab analysis could provide a useful and complementary tool for drug testing, especially for harm-reduction programs and toxico-epidemiolgy studies, with acceptable test performance, despite declarative data.

NPS-EQA PART I: Four years' experience in external quality assessment program in Italy for classical and new psychoactive substances analysis in oral fluid

In 2019, Italian National Institute of Health established an external quality assessment program (EQA) to evaluate the performance of oral fluid testing for classical and new psychoactive substances by laboratories participating in the National Early Warning System collaborative centres. This report presents the results of four rounds between 2019 and 2023. Eleven oral fluid specimens, including 3 blank samples, were prepared by adding different classes of and new psychoactive drugs at known concentrations to pre-screened drug-free oral fluid. False-negative and false-positive results were calculated for the qualitative data evaluation. The quantitative evaluation measured the imprecision and accuracy of the results, in terms of coefficient of variation (CV%) and percent error (ERR%), respectively, with respect to a mean value obtained by reference laboratories. Z-score values were then calculated. Over the years, there has been a significant improvement in false-negative results (from 42.7% in the first year to 19.4% in the last year), but not in false-positive results (from 33.3% in the first year to 22.2% in the last one). In addition to the classic drugs of abuse (e.g. cocaine, amphetamine, methadone), the substances found in false positive samples belonged to the class of synthetic cannabinoids (e.g 5-fluoro CUMYL-PINACA and 5-fluoro-EDMB-PICA), synthetic opioids (e.g butyrylfentanyl) and tryptamines (e.g. 5-methoxy-N-methyl-N-isopropyltryptamine). The four rounds yielded a mean ERR% of approximately 22.1% and a mean CV% of around 41.5%. The participating laboratories demonstrated variable performances in relation to the class of analysed psychoactive substances, as evidenced by the calculated Z-scores. Between 25% and 60% of the reported results in all rounds should be considered satisfactory. EQA is a crucial element of laboratory quality management systems. It promotes continuous improvement and maintains high standards in the field of forensic and clinical drug testing.

Effects of ambient temperature on locomotor activity and place conditioning elicited by abused psychostimulants in mice: Role of 3,4-methylenedioxy moiety

BACKGROUND

Humans often administer psychostimulants in party or music festival settings characterized by warm ambient temperatures, which may impact drug effects; however, preclinical studies rarely investigate drug effects at multiple ambient temperatures. Work with 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) suggests that the presence of a 3,4-methylenedioxy ring moiety may influence ambient temperature-dependent effects.

METHODS

Locomotor activity and conditioned place preference dose-response curves were generated at 20±2°C for two amphetamine analogues (MDMA and methamphetamine [METH]) and two cathinone analogues (MDPV and α-pyrrolidinopentiophenone [αPVP]) in mice. Effects were then redetermined at 29±2°C for each drug and assay.

RESULTS

All four drugs elicited dose-dependent locomotor stimulation at the cool ambient temperature. At the warm ambient temperature, MDMA and MDPV produced sensitization to stereotypy, whereas METH and αPVP produced sensitization to locomotor activity. Regarding place conditioning, the warm ambient environment potentiated place preference elicited by doses of METH and αPVP that were sub-threshold in the cool ambient environment, but attenuated the effects of analogous doses of MDMA and MDPV.

CONCLUSIONS

These studies suggest that warmer ambient temperatures may potentiate typical stimulant effects for the drugs lacking the 3,4-methylenedioxy ring, but may potentiate the behaviorally toxic/adverse effects for the drugs containing a 3,4-methylenedioxy ring. Thus, preclinical abuse liability studies conducted at standard laboratory temperatures may not fully capture the effects of psychostimulants and highlight the need to model the environments in which drugs are typically used by humans.