Toxicology Line
Toxicology examinations of different biological materials, such as blood, saliva, sweat, urine, hair, and hair appendages, allow us to understand whether a person has used drugs. Currently, the coercive application of such analysis in Brazil is increasingly in demand due to changes in traffic legislation, which will now use these exams.
Hair analysis in a specialist laboratory allows you to check for the consumption of the most common drugs: heroin, morphine, cocaine, amphetamines, ecstasy, cannabinoids, methadone, etc., and for how long their effects will last.
The narcotic substances and their metabolites are incorporated into hair of all types and remain there for a long time, much longer than in ordinary biological material (blood, urine, saliva). It has been scientifically proven that hair grows 1 cm per month on average, so the entire length of hair taken can be analyzed or just one or more segments. This means that you can assess the intake trend over a specified long period or for a particular period of interest.
In addition to DoA (Drugs of Abuse), hair analysis can also provide information on ethyl alcohol consumption over time, by measuring various markers of abuse. Ethyl glucuronide (EtG) is a direct metabolite of ethyl alcohol and is the most reliable marker found in keratin and, therefore, the most commonly used at present. EtG analysis of keratin must be carried out using technologically advanced instruments (UPLC-MS/MS, GC-MS/MS), to ensure that the final analysis is reliable.
The table below shows the time frames for collected analytes and metabolites that may be present in most conventional (urine and blood) and non-conventional (hair/hair appendages, saliva, and sweat) biological material of clinical or forensic interest.
Comedical do Brasil sells KITS that include reagents for extracting keratin matrix (M3 Line and VMA Line),
screening methods and confirmatory analysis, calibrators and controls formed into a genuine matrix sample
(TricoCheck).
VMA Line: products and methods for extracting hair and hair appendages, for later analysis using first-degree immunoassay screening techniques.
Products and Methods for Researching the Keratin Matrix of Drugs of Abuse, Psychotropic Substances, and Medications through Immunoassay Screening Techniques
Comedical’s VMA-T line consists of a series of products including VMA-T Reagent, Washing Solution, Calibrators, Controls and Analytical Methods aimed at measuring drugs of abuse, psychotropic substances and other drugs that accumulate in hair and hair appendages. These use the same homogeneous phase reagents and the same automatic instrumentation commonly used for immunoassay screening for substances in urine.
The VMA-T Reagent extracts all the main classes of drugs that can accumulate, from the keratin matrix, through a simple, quick and economic process: from Opiates to Cocaine, from Amphetamines to Cannabinoids, from Ecstasy to Methadone, as well as Buprenorphine and all Benzodiazepines etc. At the same time, it converts Cocaine, if present, into Benzoylecgonine and most of 6-o-Monoacetylmorphine into Morphine. This makes it possible to quantify the substances extracted, using all immunoassay screening techniques (EMIT, EMIT 2, Cedia, DRI, HEIA).
The Main analytes that these products and methods can extract and measure:
The obvious advantages of laboratory hair analysis performed using the VMA Line™:
• quality of the materials. Retrospective and preserves data for a period of time:
4 cm of hair corresponds to 4 months of “history” for the donor;
• Certainty of the examined sample’s origin – cannot be substituted or adulterated;
• Reliable Diagnosis: high sensitivity and specificity, no false negatives, low cut-off levels
(according to the guidelines of SoHT -Society of Hair Testing)
• Standardized sample preparation process;
• High throughput thanks to the automated screening.
In addition, when monitoring drugs:
• Better “compliance and therapeutic efficacy” (1)
• Significant fewer analyses (1)
• Lower management costs (1)
• Less workload (1)
M Line: : Products and methods to investigate keratin, blood and saliva for drugs of abuse, psychotropic substances, New Psychoactive Substances, markers for drug or alcohol abuse (EtG) and second degree confirmation techniques by LC-MS/ms.
Products and methods to investigate keratin for drugs of abuse, psychotropic substances, New Psychoactive Substances, drugs and markers for alcohol abuse (EtG), using LC-MS/MS and LDTD confirmation techniques.
The Comedical M3 Line consists of a series of products including M3 Reagent, Solvents to extract substances from Liquid to Liquid purification, Calibrators and Controls, in order to analyze accumulations in the keratin matrix as it grows, using LC-MS/MS confirmation techniques for drugs of abuse, psychotropic substances, therapeutic drugs and Ethyl Glucuronide as a marker of alcohol abuse.
Our special hydrolysis process, at 100° C, does not transform the extracted analytes. They are measured in the same form that they have accumulated in. Recovery is comparable with or higher than that obtained with traditional extraction techniques.
After extraction, the sample is ready to be directly injected into the LC-MS/MS or it can be purified with either a liquid-liquid extraction using the Comedical M3 S1 or S2 Solvent pack and analyzed in GC/MS or purified by an SPE column for later analysis by LC-MS/MS.
The process of extracting the keratin matrix using Reagent M3, as previously mentioned, does not involve altering the accumulated analytes in any way. It also allows you to conduct quantitative screening using specially chosen immunoassay reagents.
Main analytes that the products and techniques can extract and measure:
Morphine
6-o-Monoacetylmorphine
Codeine
Cocaine
Benzoylecgonine
Cocaethylene
Ecgonine methylester
Amphetamine
Methamphetamine
MDMA (Ecstasy) – 3.4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine
MDA - 3.4-Methylenedioxyamphetamine
MDEA – 3.4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine.
THC - A9-Tetrahydrocannabinol
THC-COOH A9-Tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid.
CBN - Cannabinol
CBD – Cannabinol
Methadone
Buprenorphine
Norbuprenorphine
Clobazam
Ketamine
Norketamine
EtG - Ethyl Glucuronide.
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The obvious advantages of laboratory hair analysis performed using the M3 Line products and techniques:
• Simultaneous extraction of drugs of abuse, medication, psychotropic substances and Ethyl Glucuronide;
• No transformation of extracted analytes;
• Simple and quick procedure, 1 hour at 100°C, once the hair sample has been sliced;
• Excellent recovery of extracted analytes, better than traditional methanol extraction;
• The extracted analytes can be measured by various methods, including direct injection into LC-MS/MS.
•Standardized sample preparation and extraction process;
• Excellent analytical reproducibility as less manual steps are required.
TricoCheck™: controls embedded in a genuine keratin matrix (human hair) for drug and medication checks
and EtG analysis, together with screening and confirmation techniques.
Genuine matrix controls for quality checks of the investigation processes for drugs of abuse, psychotropic substances, medications and Ethylglucuronide in hair.
The TricoCheck™ group of products were designed to verify the entire analytical process for measuring drugs
of abuse, medication, psychotropic substances and markers of alcohol abuse (EtG) in hair.
Quality Control Analytes with Assigned Values are available for use in confirmatory LC-MS/MS or GC-MS
assays, and Class Controls with Assigned Values are available for semi-quantitative analysis using screening
techniques. The TricoCheck™ controls are unique. They are applied to genuine hair that has been washed,
sliced and impregnated with special substances through a specific technique called TricoINC. They are then
treated together with the normal hair samples.
All the TricoCheck controls can be decontaminated afterwards, using the techniques and products described
in the literature and extracted in accordance with international guidelines on hair testing for clinical or forensic purposes.
The values for each code and batch in the TricoCheck Controls can be found inside the packaging, to ensure that data can be recovered and checked in any condition, and also to make it easier to assess on multiple
levels of quality.
The R&D Laboratory of Comedical has the necessary expertise and equipment to design and manufacture keratin matrix controls to the customer’s specific requirements, for use in internal laboratory checks or Chemical and Food Engineering checks
Strengths and main advantages:
• Based on authentic hair material from selected donors;
• INCORPORATED into the keratin matrix using a special production process and therefore washable and extractable as routine samples;
• Cut into segments of approximately 2 mm, ready for use;
• Suitable for quality control of the entire analytical process: decontamination, weighing, extraction and measuring.