383 – Detection of the commonly used antipsychotic drugs from human hair and urine in a sample of patients with schizophrenia

Abstract

Objective Hair drug testing measures the drug molecules embedded inside the hair shaft, eliminating external contamination as a source of a positive result. Method Four drug groups with 20 schizophrenic patients for each drug (Haloperidol, Trifluoperazine, Clozapine and Risperidon). The 1 st visit included clinical assessment (semi-structured interview and diagnosis, and Positive and Negative Schizophrenia Symptom Scale PANSS) and urine & hair samples were taken after the first week of drug administration. The 2 nd visit was done and samples were taken after 4th week of drug administration. The 3 rd visit was done and samples were taken after 8th week of drug administration. Results The four antipsychotics in this study can be detected earlier in urine than hair (starting from 1 st week in the former and 4th week in the later) HPLC test. There were significant differences in the mean scores of PANNS for the four drugs in 1 st , 4 th , and 8 th weeks. Conclusion The advantages of hair analysis over urine analysis include the non-invasiveness, low cost, easier to collect, store, transport, the ability to measure a large number of potentially interacting toxic and biologically essential elements.