Drug Testing In Hair Research Articles

Association of Official Racing Chemists guidelines for drug testing in animal hair for doping control.

The Association of Official Racing Chemists (AORC) guidelines for drug testing in animal hair provide animal sport doping control laboratories with a framework for the implementation of a robust and legally defensible program for the analysis, both screening and confirmatory, of animal hair samples. The guidelines were compiled by the AORC Hair Analysis Committee, which is comprised of experts from animal sport doping control laboratories around the world, before being ratified by the AORC membership. They provide guidance on all stages of animal hair analysis, from sample collection, through sample pre-treatment and extraction and onto instrumental analysis.

Pulverization Is a Crucial Step-A Comparative Study of Different Pretreatments in Hair Drug Testing.

In forensic toxicology, hair has become a hot biological material for drug testing due to its wider detection window and noninvasive sampling process compared to traditional liquid biological materials (e.g., blood and urine). However, hair as a matrix differs from body fluids, as it is not as easily aliquoted for analysis. Nevertheless, pretreatment methods for hair detection have gradually improved from the first chemical methods, such as alkali digestion and acid hydrolysis, to now include the physical method of pulverization and further improvements beyond "pulverization" protocols. In a previous study, we updated and developed a "micropulverized extraction" method. In the present study, our aim was to gain a more complete understanding of the "micropulverized extraction" method by comparing pulverization temperature and hair particle size, as these two factors are known to influence the effectiveness of sample processing. The analytes we selected were those commonly encountered in traditional drug abuse cases: (±)-methamphetamine, (±)-amphetamine, morphine, 6-acetylmorphine, cocaine, benzoylecgonine, (--)-∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol, ketamine, (±)-norketamine and (±)-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine. The analysis method was liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

Effectiveness of an mHealth App as an add-on for Smoking Cessation in One year: A multicenter and randomized Trial (The MASCOT study)

Introduction: Smoking accounts for 480,000 deaths per year in the United States. Traditional pharmacotherapeutic interventions for smoking cessation continue to fail, urging the implementation of new therapies to prevent further harm. Mobile Health apps have appeared to support smoking cessation; their low cost, wide availability, absence of side effects, and drug-to-drug interaction make them useful adjuncts in some populations. Despite promising results, only a small number of smoking cessation apps have been formally researched as an add-on therapy. Therefore, we hypothesize that using a mobile health app (PIVOT) as an add-on to the current standard therapy (varenicline plus cognitive-behavioral therapy) could increase the smoking cessation rate. Methods: We propose a Phase III, multicenter, randomized, parallel-group, open-label, superiority trial. The control group will receive varenicline 1mg/daily for 3 months plus 10 sessions of cognitive-behavioral therapies. The intervention group will receive the same treatment plus the addition of the PIVOT® app for one year. Participants will be 21 to 60 years old who meet the Tobacco Use Disorder criteria. The primary outcome will be smoking abstinence at 1 year of follow-up. Secondary outcomes will be lapses and relapses, cotinine hair drug testing at the end of follow-up, and the impact on Quality of Life measured through the WHO Quality of Life Scale-Brief questionnaire.  Discussion: mobile Health Apps are widely available and extensively used by smokers to aid smoking cessation; however, their effectiveness as an add-on is unproven. This study will provide evidence on this matter to advise future clinical practice guidelines and decrease the morbidity and mortality attributable to tobacco use.

Studying the effect of cocaine on the structure of cosmetically treated human hair using micro-Attenuated Total Reflection spectroscopy (ATR)

It has been demonstrated that hair can accumulate and trap drugs over time with exposure and use, thus being able to provide a useful indication of long-term exposure. Studying changes in the structural components of hair, which may occur as a result of drug binding processes, can be a useful tool in understanding the issues involving false positive results from hair drug testing. Furthermore, the effect of cosmetic treatments, such as bleaching and straightening on hair structural changes, may help to understand the effect of drugs on human hair structure with pre-treatment history. In this investigation, changes resulting from exposure of bleached, unbleached, and straightened, neat blonde Caucasian hair to external cocaine were examined. Cocaine was chosen as the test drug as it is among the most widely abused substances. The results from infrared spectra and their second derivatives with aid of multivariate statistical method, PCA analysis demonstrated that changes in the hair structure occurred as a result of these treatments.

Two DFSA cases involving midazolam clarified by the micro-segmental hair analyses.

In this study, an analytical procedure to identify trace amounts of drug in hair based on micro-segmental hair analysis was presented. The method also can be used to estimate the time of drug ingestion at daily precision by cutting a single hair into sub-millimeter segments which correspond to daily hair growth. A method was established for efficient extraction of midazolam, one of the most frequently detected compound in drug-facilitated sexual assault (DFSA) cases, from each 0.4-mm hair segment and validated by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). Moreover, two DFSA cases were used to compare the micro-segmental hair analysis with the 1- cm segmental analysis method. The validation showed a lower limit of quantification of 0.5pg/mm for midazolam, with intraday and interday accuracies (bias) from - 5.2 to 0.9%. The micro-segmental hair analysis method was applied to proximal 1-cm hair segment including hair bulbs in two DFSA cases. The micro-segmental hair analysis results in case 1 showed midazolam in the S15-S17 (5.6-6.8mm from hair bulb) in a concentration range from 0.5 to 0.9pg/mm, and the concentrations of midazolam in all hair micro-segments (0-1cm from the scalp) in case 2 were from 0.5 to 2.0pg/mm. Comparison with the conventional method revealed that micro-segmental hair analysis may enhance the utility of hair drug testing and strengthen probative force in DFSA cases.

Evaluation of decontamination procedures for drug testing in undamaged versus damaged hair.

Although substances incorporated by ingestion are strongly bound to hair, their loss may occur if aggressive decontamination procedures are applied, especially in highly damaged/porous hair. Evaluation of cleaning procedures using hair samples with different porosity obtained from ethanol or drug users (cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, methadone, fentanyl, tramadol, diazepam, buprenorphine, dihydrocodeine, citalopram and trazodone). The effect of washing time and multiple wash steps with water and methanol were evaluated. Hair samples (n= 16) were selected and evaluated according to (a) the drug pattern consumption, (b) available amount, and (c) hair porosity (c1 'cosmetic treatment', c2: storage time). Six of them were soaked with an aqueous deuterated analogue solution. The samples were cut in 1-cm segments and homogenized. All hair samples were then decontaminated one or six times with 1.5 ml of water or methanol during 1, 5, 15, 30, 60 and/or 90 min (n= 1 to 3/sample, depending on the available amount of hair). Hair extracts were then cleaned up via a solid-phase extraction (SPE) or liquid-liquid extraction (LLE), while the washes were evaporated to dryness. All were thereafter reconstituted and analysed with routine ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) methods. Although concentrations of parent drugs and/or metabolites presented a negative trend along the washing time with methanol (up to 80%), the compounds were relatively well retained in hair even after a 90 min wash (with methanol or water) in most samples, and their retention would depend mostly on the hair nature rather than their physicochemical properties (whether incorporated by ingestion and/or from external contamination). Moreover, parent drugs and/or metabolites were detected in the washes in most samples, and the ratio between hair and washes decreased along the washing time. More than 50% of the deuterated analogues soaked into hair were still present after the different washing steps. Losses were observed more frequently for long-term stored hair samples, after decontamination with methanol for more than 30 min. Therefore, prolonged or repeated cleaning with methanol should be avoided in general procedures.

Sensitive determination of 11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol and complementary cannabinoids in hair using alkaline digestion and mixed-mode solid phase extraction followed by liquid-chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

Hair drug testing can be used for the evaluation of cannabis use with a large detection window, and is required for professional driving license granting in Brazil. A positive hair result for cannabis use requires quantification of the metabolite THC-COOH above the cutoff value of 0.2 ng/g. The achievement of such lower limit of quantification is challenging, particularly with the use of liquid chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole mass spectrometers (LC-MS/MS). In this study, a very sensitive LCMS/ MS assay for the simultaneous quantification of THC-COOH along with THC, CBD, and CBN was developed and validated. Sample preparation was based on hair hydrolysis, followed by selective ion-exchange solid-phase extraction. The extraction yield was 101.5–101.6% for THC-COOH, 92.3–97.4% for THC, 89.7–95.2% for CBN, and 104.9–121.1% for CBD. Internal standard corrected matrix effects were − 2.7 to − 1,1 for THCCOOH and − 11.5 to − 0.1% for the other analytes. The lower limit of quantification was 01 ng/g for THC-COOH and 25 ng/g for THC, CBD, and CBN. The assay fulfilled validation guidelines acceptance criteria. The measurement uncertainties were determined and the assay was ISO17025 accredited, being currently used in routine testing.

Development and validation of a method for simultaneous analysis of hair underivatized amino acids and damage biomarkers, using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

The forensic and medical fields are seeing growing interest in the amino acid and damage biomarker composition of hair, in order to identify adulteration of drug hair testing and for diagnostic purposes. Therefore, there is an increased demand for quick and accurate analytical methods. This study presents the first liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) assay for the simultaneous quantification of hair amino acids and four damage biomarkers, which also implements an isotopic dilution strategy to improve recovery and precision of the acid hydrolysis-sensitive analytes.The applied strategy enabled a recovery of the hydrolysis-sensitive amino acids between 83 and 120% (vs. 33–77%, without isotopic dilution) for two different protein standards, and a precision with a relative standard deviation (RSD) between 1.3 and 7.5% (vs. 9.0–29.4%, without isotopic dilution). All 21 analytes could be measured without interferences by matrix and sample components, thus demonstrating satisfactory selectivity of the method. For spiked samples of hair hydrolyzate, recovery was between 88 and 120%, whereas precision and intermediate precision were below 10.1%. The high sensitivity of the method made it possible to reduce sample preparation to a 10000-fold dilution of the raw hydrolyzate. The wide linear range displayed by the method allowed the simultaneous quantification of minor (0.3 μmol/g of hair) and major (up to 1000 μmol/g of hair) components of the biological fiber. This method was successfully applied to the analysis of real hair samples submitted to six different treatments. Statistical data analysis by means of t-test and principal component analysis (PCA) showed a clear discrimination of the treated from the untreated hair samples and of the different treatments. Since these hair treatments can interfere with hair drug testing, the method possesses the ability of identifying hair samples with potential for attempted drug test evasion. In addition, lanthionine emerged as a new biomarker for heat damaged hair.

Concentration distribution of more than 100 drugs and metabolites in forensic hair samples

Drug testing in hair can complement conventional blood and urine analysis as it enlarges the window of detection and may allow a differentiation of heavy from moderate or rare use. Databases of drug concentrations in biological matrices are a valuable support in interpreting analytical results. In forensic toxicology, several databases exist especially for blood/serum samples. In the present paper, the concentration distributions of more than 100 legal and illegal drugs such as narcotic drugs, opioids, antidepressants, antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, and major metabolites detected in authentic Caucasian hair samples in our laboratory are summarized. Depending on availability, the proximal sections of 1-6cm in length were analyzed by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry following extraction of the finely chopped specimens by ultrasound in methanol. The data may present a helpful basis also for other laboratories for an initial evaluation of their results. However, these statistical data should not be used uncritically without including the circumstances of the particular case and the analytical procedures used. In addition, each laboratory in charge of interpreting results from hair analysis should balance own results as far as available with this data base.

Using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) for investigations on single hair samples to solve the contamination versus incorporation issue of hair analysis in the case of cocaine and methadone

Drug testing in hair is a controversial subject of discussion. Claims that decontamination protocols could generate false-positive samples, by washing contamination in hair, have unsettled many toxicologists. At least for zolpidem (known for showing only minor contamination), it could be shown that differentiation of the drug incorporated via the bloodstream from contamination was possible. The current work addresses cocaine and methadone, known for their high concentrations and contamination issues. Longitudinally and cross-sectioned samples of drug-soaked hair, consumer hair and cocaine powder contaminated hair were investigated using time of flight-secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS). In addition, the resulting wash solutions were investigated using LC-MS/MS. Differentiation of contamination from incorporation was possible for soaked and consumer hair samples. Therefore, contamination could be localized in the superficial compartments of hair and could be removed using strong wash protocols. In the case of powder contaminated hair samples, a small amount of cocaine remained in the inner structures even after the application of the strongest wash protocols. However, taking into consideration the differences in their behavior during decontamination steps compared to both soaked and authentic hair samples, the validity of this contamination protocol (rubbing cocaine powder into hair) must be questioned. Furthermore, when using cut-off values and metabolite ratios (from routine hair analysis), the differentiation of incorporation from contamination was possible also for all our experimental samples in this study. Inclusion of metabolites and application of cut-off values are therefore a must in routine hair analysis.

Hair Testing for Drugs in the Field of Forensics

Hair testing for drugs has been used extensively in the field of forensics since the 1990s as a means of obtaining firm evidence of drug ingestion. In addition to its longer detection windows, hair is the only specimen that can provide chronological information on individual drug use. Illicit drugs and hypnotics account for the majority of substances involved in crimes; they are usually analyzed to prove an addictive use or an exposure to drugs in drug-facilitated crimes. The mechanism of drug incorporation into hair has been intensively investigated to properly interpret the results of hair analysis. However, the exact mechanism remains under much discussion, despite the growing application of hair tests. Recently, the authors have applied matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) imaging and sectional hair analysis of 1-mm segments using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for single-strand hair, to investigate the incorporation pathways of drugs into hair. Time-course changes in drug distribution along single-strand hair suggest that the incorporation of drugs occurs in two regions of the hair root, the hair bulb and the upper part of hair root, and suggest that incorporation from the hair bulb continues for about 2 weeks. Distribution profiles of different drugs in hair additionally revealed that the main incorporation pathway varies (i.e., via the hair bulb or the upper part of hair root) depending on the properties of the drug/metabolite. These findings should be taken into account upon discussing individual drug-use history based on the results of hair analysis.

Does Performing Preplacement Workplace Hair Drug Testing Influence US Department of Transportation Random and Postaccident Urine Drug Test Positivity Rates?

Does performing pre-employment hair drug testing subsequently affect the prevalence of positive random and postaccident urine drug tests? This cross-sectional study was designed to evaluate the prevalence of positive postaccident and random workplace urine drug tests for companies that perform pre-employment hair and urine drug testing to companies that only perform pre-employment urine drug testing. Fisher exact test of independence indicated no significant difference between pre-employment hair drug testing and overall US Department of Transportation random and postaccident urine drug test positivity rates. The analysis failed to reject the null hypothesis, suggesting that pre-employment hair drug testing had no effect upon random and postaccident urine drug test positivity rates.

Comparison and validation of screening tools for substance use in pregnancy: a cross-sectional study conducted in Maryland prenatal clinics

IntroductionPrescription-drug use in the USA has increased by more than 60% in the last three decades. Prevalence of prescription-drug use among pregnant women is currently estimated around 50%. Prevalence of...

European guidelines for workplace drug and alcohol testing in hair.

Guidelines for Legally Defensible Workplace Drug Testing have been prepared and updated by the European Workplace Drug Testing Society (EWDTS). They are based on the 2010 version published by Pascal Kintz and Ronald Agius (Guidelines for European workplace drug and alcohol testing in hair. Drug Test. Anal. 2010, 2, 367) and in concordance with the Society of Hair Testing guidelines (Society of Hair Testing guidelines for drug testing in hair. Forensic Sci. Int. 2012, 218, 20-24). The European Guidelines are designed to establish best practice procedures whilst allowing individual countries to operate within the requirements of national customs and legislation. The EWDTS recommends that all European laboratories that undertake legally defensible workplace drug testing use these guidelines as a template for accreditation. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Ethnic hair care products may increase false positives in hair drug testing

The question of why different races appear more susceptible to hair contamination by external drugs remains controversial. This research studied susceptibility of head hair to external cocaine and methamphetamine when hair products have been applied. Three different chemical classes of ethnic hair products were applied to Caucasian, Asian, and African hair. Some products increased the methamphetamine and cocaine concentrations in all hair types. A unique finding of this research is that certain ethnic hair products can replace moisture as a diffusion medium, thereby increasing the susceptibility to contamination over 100-fold compared to petroleum-based products.

Trends in drug testing in oral fluid and hair as alternative matrices.

The use of alternative matrices such as oral fluid and hair has increased in the past decades because of advances in analytical technology. However, there are still many issues that need to be resolved. Standardized protocols of sample pretreatment are needed to link the detected concentrations to final conclusions. The development of suitable proficiency testing schemes is required. Finally, interpretation issues such as link to effect, adulteration, detection markers and thresholds will hamper the vast use of these matrices. Today, several niche areas apply these matrices with success, such as drugs and driving for oral fluid and drug-facilitated crimes for hair. Once those issues are resolved, the number of applications will markedly grow in the future.

O7: Evaluation of hair analysis with socio-demographic profile of crack users in Brazil

A study of 1383 drug users was undertaken in Brazil focusing on crack cocaine users. Detailed interviews were undertaken about their personal life history and psychoactive substance use and hair samples were taken to corroborate the interview data. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate hair drug testing as a biomarker capable of corroborating the interview data and history of drug use. Head hair samples were collected from 333 known drug users, 298 males and 35 females, from various parts of Brazil, prior to their voluntary detoxification treatment. The samples were sent to ChromaTox for analysis. Head hair sections (N=327) measured from 0.5 to 4 cm. Body hair samples (N=6) were not sectioned and measured from 1.5 to 3 cm. The samples were extracted and analysed by LC-MS/MS using methods accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 standards. A cutoff of 0.5 ng/mg was used for cocaine and 0.2 ng/mg for AEME, cocaethylene, and norcocaine. The limit of quantitation (LOQ) was 0.1 ng/mg for all analytes (cocaine, benzoylecgonine, norcocaine, AEME, crack cocaine). Cocaine was detected above cutoff in 272 samples of hair with levels ranging from 0.5 ng/mg to 385.2 ng/mg. AEME was detected in 200 samples with levels from 0.3 to 16.6 ng/mg; benzoylecgonine was detected in 70 samples with levels from 0.2 to 242.8 ng/mg and norcocaine was detected in 207 samples with levels from 0.2 ng/mg to 8.2 ng/mg. Where current cocaine use was not detected (N=13) or was below cutoff but above LOQ (N=48), the period covered by the sample length corresponded with the period when crack and/or cocaine use ceased for the majority of the cases. Alprazolam, diazepam, nordiazepam and THC were also detected in various combinations in 89 samples. Levels detected in hair were not correlated with other data collected in the interviews such as type of abode, education, race, religion, income or parental drug use nor with the age people started using crack cocaine. The results of the analysis of hair samples confirmed the usefulness of the detection of drugs in hair to assess drug consumption over a long period of time, and in this case to corroborate interview data. Samples where use of cocaine was not detected correlated with individuals who declared at their interviews that they had stopped using crack cocaine prior to the period covered by the sample. The results also showed no correlation between the declared amounts used of crack cocaine and/or of cocaine with the levels detected in hair. This is expected, since, whilst the hair results can be compared with the results previously analysed by the laboratory, it is well established that there are many factors that affect levels of drugs in hair and therefore it is not possible to infer from the levels detected in hair the amount of drug used. These factors are for example, inter-individual differences in metabolism, hair types and cosmetic treatments. Hair drug testing is an excellent tool for showing whether people used drugs or not over a long period of time. It is not possible therefore to establish the amount of drug used from the levels detected in hair. It is possible, however to compare the results with the results previously analysed by the laboratory and to use the levels of drugs in hair as a guide to the changes in pattern of use over time in the same individual.

Hair drug testing results and self-reported drug use among primary care patients with moderate-risk illicit drug use

BackgroundThis study sought to examine the utility of hair testing as a research measure of drug use among individuals with moderate-risk drug use based on the internationally validated Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST). MethodsThis study is a secondary analysis using baseline data from a randomized trial of brief intervention for drug misuse, in which 360 adults with moderate-risk drug use were recruited from two community clinics in New Mexico, USA. The current study compared self-reported drug use on the ASSIST with laboratory analysis of hair samples using a standard commercially available 5-panel test with assay screening and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) confirmation. Both self-report and hair testing covered a 3-month period. ResultsOverall concordance between hair testing and self-report was 57.5% (marijuana), 86.5% (cocaine), 85.8% (amphetamines), and 74.3% (opioids). Specificity of hair testing at standard laboratory cut-offs exceeded 90% for all drugs, but sensitivity of hair testing relative to self-report was low, identifying only 52.3% (127/243) of self-disclosed marijuana users, 65.2% (30/46) of cocaine users, 24.2% (8/33) of amphetamine users, and 2.9% (2/68) of opioid users. Among participants who disclosed using marijuana or cocaine in the past 3 months, participants with a negative hair test tended to report lower-frequency use of those drugs (p<.001 for marijuana and cocaine). ConclusionsHair testing can be useful in studies with moderate-risk drug users, but the potential for under-identification of low-frequency use suggests that researchers should consider employing low detection cut-offs and using hair testing in conjunction with self-report.

Rapid extraction, identification and quantification of drugs of abuse in hair by immunoassay and ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

Drug testing in hair is a unique analysis in pharmacotoxicology for establishing a past repeated history of consumption or passive exposure to psychotropic substances. A rather lengthy sample treatment is usually required before parent drugs and eventual metabolites are amenable to quali-quantitative analysis. We evaluated a high throughput screening and confirmation analysis of drugs of abuse in hair by immunoassay and a validated ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) after applying a rapid digestion of the keratin matrix with VMA-T reagent before screening assay and M3 reagent before confirmatory analysis. Samples digestion with VMA-T reagent and immunometric screening analysis of hair calibrators, controls and clinical samples for a total of 150 samples was completed in 4 h. No false-positive and -negative results were found for the control material. UPLC-MS/MS analysis confirmed all of the 31 adult hair samples positive to the screening test using internationally established cut-offs, and identified and quantified drugs of abuse in 32 pediatric hair samples, applying lower limits of quantification from 0.01 to 0.1 ng analyte per mg hair. Analytical recovery was between 70.9% and 100.7%. Intra- and inter-assay imprecision and inaccuracy were always lower than 10%. Rapid extraction, identification and quantification of drugs of abuse in hair by immunoassay and UPLC-MS/MS was tested for its feasibility in clinical samples and provided excellent results for rapid and effective drug testing in hair in epidemiological studies.

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

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.