NEW HPLC METHOD TO DETECT INDIVIDUAL OPIOIDS (HEROIN AND TRAMADOL) AND THEIR METABOLITES IN THE BLOOD OF RATS ON COMBINATION TREATMENT

Drug abuse is both an age old and a constantly evolving problem in society. Trends in illicit drug use are highly fluid with new formulations increasing in popularity. For this reason, methods for illicit drug detection and analysis need to be continually updated so they remain useful and relevant. A recent trend in street heroin production has seen it diluted with large amounts of tramadol in addition to the classical diluents such as acetaminophen and caffeine. This study describes a sensitive, simple and accurate high-performance liquid chromatographic method with UV detection for the simultaneous detection of heroin, 6-acetylmorphine, morphine, tramadol and O-desmethyltramadol in blood of rats using a liquid-liquid back extraction method. The separation was performed on LichroCART RP-18e with particle size of 5 μm (250x4.6 mm) with mobile phase acetonitrile:50 mM KH2PO4 buffer, pH 7.1, using a gradient mode with a 1.0 mL/min flow rate. The calibration curves were linear in a concentration range 0.25-100 and 0.1-100 µg/mL for morphine and other analytes, respectively. Recovery values for the substances ranged between 59 and 83%. This technique was successfully used in pharmacokinetic studies measuring 6-acetylmorphine, morphine, tramadol and O-desmethyltramadol in blood of rats intraperitoneally treated with a blend of 10 mg/kg heroin and 70 mg/kg tramadol. This technique shows promise for analysis of confiscated street heroin

مكونات نبات القات : (القلويد ات - التربينات وا لمركبات ا لأخرى المشابهة - ا لسابونينات)

The study of the alkaloids of khat samples from Egypt and Yemen revealed qualitative and quantitative differences. Cathine and the dimer of cathinone occured in both samples, while norephedine was detected only in Yemen samples. Investigation of certain other constituents viz. triterpenes, sterols, fatty alcohols, hydrocarbons, fatty acids and saponins resulted in the isolation and identification of several componentsأسفرت دراسة القلويدات فتي عينتين من القات المنزرع في مصر واليمن عن وجود بعض الاختلافات ( نوعيا وكميا ) ، فقد وجد الكاثين ودايمر للكاثينين في كلا العينتين بينما وجد النورايفدرين فقط في النبات المنزرع في اليمن . كذلك فصلت عدة مركبات أخرى : تربينات - ستيرويدات - هيدروكربونات - كحولات اليفاتيه - سابونينات . كما درست الأحماض الدهنية الموجودة في النبات

DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF A NEW GC-MS METHOD FOR DETECTION OF TRAMADOL, O-DESMETHYLTRAMADOL, 6-ACETYLMORPHINE AND MORPHINE IN BLOOD, BRAIN, LIVER, AND KIDNEY OF WISTAR RATS TREATED WITH THE COMBINATION OF HEROIN AND TRAMADOL

Heroin is one of the most dangerous abused drugs in the world. Tramadol is an additive recently found at high concentration levels in street heroin seizures in Egypt. This substance could affect the usual analytical method for the detection of heroin and metabolites, as well as the pharmacokinetic and disposition of single analytes. One shortfall regarding this issue is present in the literature. This study describes a validated, simple, sensitive and selective method to determine tramadol, O-desmethyltramadol, 6-acetylmorphine and free morphine in the blood, brain, liver and kidney of Wistar rats, intraperitoneally treated with a combination of heroin and tramadol (10 and 70 mg/kg, respectively) using liquid–liquid extraction and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry detection. The calibration curves of tramadol, O-desmethyltramadol and 6-acetylmorphine in blood were linear in the concentration range from 25–5,000 ng/mL and morphine was found in the concentration range 50–5,000 ng/ mL. The analytes were detected in all tested matrices, except 6-acetylmorphine, which was not detected in liver. The highest concentrations of tramadol and O-desmethyltramadol were observed in kidney (22,9381 and 28,498 ng/g), while 6-acetylmorphine and morphine were found at the highest levels in brain (3,280 and 3,899 ng/g, respectively). The present method is simple, rapid and sensitive and can be used to study the pharmacokinetics, disposition and interaction of these drugs in several animal models