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Published:
Journal of Analytical Toxicology,
ISSN 0146-4760,
Volume 25,
Number 2, March 2001, pp. 130-136
Analytical Methodology
for the Detection of Benzodiazepine Consumption in Opioid-Dependent Subjects
Mireia Segura[1],
Josep Barbosa[2], Marta Torrens[3,4], Magí Farré[1,3], Claudio
Castillo[4], Jordi Segura[1,5], and Rafael de la Torre[1,3]
[1]Unitat de Farmacologia, Institut Municipal d’Investigació Mèdica
(IMIM),
[2]Departament de Química Analítica, Universitat de Barcelona,
[3]Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona,
[4]CAP Barceloneta, and 5Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
Benzodiazepines
are frequently abused by heroin users, but not all compounds have shown the
same abuse liability. We developed an analytical method that was able to detect
various benzodiazepine compounds in a single run. Enzymatically hydrolyzed urine
underwent a liquid–liquid extraction procedure with chloroform/isopropanol
(9:1) at pH 8–9 followed by a solid–liquid clean-up (Bond Elut TCA®
C18) to obtain appropriate extracts for HPLC analysis. Mobile phase composition
was optimized by means of the linear solvation energy relationship methodology
based on Reichardt’s normalized solvatochromic parameter (ETN). The method
was validated for the simultaneous detection and quantitation of alprazolam,
a-hydroxyalprazolam, oxazepam, 7-aminoflunitrazepam, flunitrazepam, nordiazepam,
lorazepam, and diazepam. The prevalence of benzodiazepine consumption in 229
opioid-dependent subjects on methadone-maintenance treatment was 48%. Oxazepam
and nordiazepam were the benzodiazepines most frequently recoved in urine samples.
The prevalence of alprazolam use (40%) was higher than that of flunitrazepam
(10%). Reproduction
of editorial content of this journal is prohibited without publisher’s
permission.
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