37 research outputs found
Analytical Profiling of Airplane Wastewater - a New Matrix for Mapping Worldwide Patterns of Drug Use and Abuse
Abstract
There is limited knowledge on the global prescription and consumption patterns of therapeutic (TD) and illicit drugs (ID). Pooled urine analysis and wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has been used for local-based drug screening. It is, however, difficult to study the global epidemiology due to difficulties in obtaining samples. The aims of the study were to test the detectability of TD and ID in airplane wastewater samples categorized according to their geographical origin.
Wastewater samples (n= 17) were collected from long-distance flights and prepared with enzymatic conjugate cleaving followed by either precipitation or solid phase extraction. Aliquots were analysed on various liquid chromatography – mass spectrometers. TDs were grouped according to their Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) codes.
Identification confidence was assigned to three levels based on variables including detection on multiple instruments and number of targets per compound. A total of 424 compounds were identified across all samples, distributed on 87 unique TD and 2 ID. Two principal components in a principal component analysis separated three clusters of wastewater samples corresponding to geographical origin of the airplanes with therapeutic subgroup ATC codes as variables. Airplane wastewater analysis is useful for identifying targets for WBE and toxicological analysis and explore drug use and abuse patterns.</jats:p
A New Strategy for Efficient Retrospective Data Analyses for Designer Benzodiazepines in Large LC-HRMS Datasets
The expanding and dynamic market of new psychoactive substances (NPSs) poses
challenges for laboratories worldwide. The retrospective data analysis (RDA) of previously
analyzed samples for new targets can be used to investigate analytes missed in the first
data analysis. However, RDA has historically been unsuitable for routine evaluation
because reprocessing and reevaluating large numbers of forensic samples are highly
work- and time-consuming. In this project, we developed an efficient and scalable
retrospective data analysis workflow that can easily be tailored and optimized for
groups of NPSs. The objectives of the study were to establish a retrospective data
analysis workflow for benzodiazepines in whole blood samples and apply it on previously
analyzed driving-under-the-influence-of-drugs (DUID) cases. The RDA workflow was
based on a training set of hits in ultrahigh-performance liquid
chromatography–quadrupole time-of-flight–mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF-MS)
data files, corresponding to common benzodiazepines that also had been analyzed
with a complementary UHPLC–tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) method.
Quantitative results in the training set were used as the true condition to evaluate
whether a hit in the UHPLC-QTOF-MS data file was true or false positive. The training
set was used to evaluate and set filters. The RDA was used to extract information from 47
DBZDs in 13,514 UHPLC-QTOF-MS data files from DUID cases analyzed from 2014 to
2020, with filters on the retention time window, count level, and mass error. Sixteen
designer and uncommon benzodiazepines (DBZDs) were detected, where 47
identifications had been confirmed by using complementary methods when the case
was open (confirmed positive finding), and 43 targets were not reported when the case
was open (tentative positive finding). The most common tentative and confirmed findings
were etizolam (n = 26), phenazepam (n = 13), lorazepam (n = 9), and flualprazolam (n = 8).
This method efficiently found DBZDs in previously acquired UHPLC-QTOF-MS data files,
with only nine false-positive hits. When the standard of an emerging DBZD becomes
available, all previously acquired DUID data files can be screened in less than 1 min. Being
able to perform a fast and accurate retrospective data analysis across previously acquired
data files is a major technological advancement in monitoring NPS abuse
Improved functionalization of oleic acid-coated iron oxide nanoparticles for biomedical applications
Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles
can providemultiple benefits for biomedical applications
in aqueous environments such asmagnetic separation or
magnetic resonance imaging. To increase the colloidal
stability and allow subsequent reactions, the introduction
of hydrophilic functional groups onto the particles’
surface is essential. During this process, the original
coating is exchanged by preferably covalently bonded
ligands such as trialkoxysilanes. The duration of the
silane exchange reaction, which commonly takes more
than 24 h, is an important drawback for this approach. In
this paper, we present a novel method, which introduces
ultrasonication as an energy source to dramatically
accelerate this process, resulting in high-quality waterdispersible nanoparticles around 10 nmin size. To prove
the generic character, different functional groups were
introduced on the surface including polyethylene glycol
chains, carboxylic acid, amine, and thiol groups. Their
colloidal stability in various aqueous buffer solutions as
well as human plasma and serum was investigated to
allow implementation in biomedical and sensing
applications.status: publishe
Death from diabetic ketoacidosis in the Eastern part of Denmark in 2016-2018. Beta-hydroxybutyrate as a marker
Diabetes mellitus is a disease caused by a deficiency in (type 1) or inability to use insulin (type 2). Untreated it can lead to diabetic ketocidosis (DKA) – state with high levels of ketone bodies (acetone, acetoacetate, beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB)). This state can be life threatening. Measurement of ketone bodies together with vitreous/urine glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C) are therefore essential to diagnose DKA-related deaths