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XXXV TIAFT Annual Meeting Drugs of Abuse and Testing
PREVALENCE OF AMPHETAMINE-LIKE DRUGS IN HUMAN URINE

Cole K.A.*, Okano C.*, Creghan B.**, Lukey B.**, Bryant P.*, Magluilo J.*, Smith M.L.*

*Division Forensic Toxicology, Armed Forces Institute Pathology, Washington, DC, USA
**Forensic Toxicology Drug Testing Laboratory, Tripler Army Medical Center, HI, USA


A number of drugs and their metabolites are reactive in amphetamine immunoassays. This abstract outlines the prevalence of some of these compounds, methamphetamine (MA), amphetamine (AMP), pseudoephedrine (PE), ephedrine (E), phenylpropanolamine (PPA), fenfluramine (Fen), phentermine (Phen), in a healthy population of adults. 9417 urine specimens were collected at random from US military personnel in Autumn 1996 and screened by Roche Online® KIMS AMP immunoassay yielding 89 positive specimens at a cutoff of 0.5 mg/L. Aliquots of the 89 positive specimens were treated with sodium periodate to remove a-hydroxyamines (e.g. PE, E, PPA) and retested with a Roche High Specificity MA Radioimmunoassay, cutoff 0.5 mg/L, yielding 5 positives. One of these positives confirmed by GC/MS for MA/AMP (1.16/1.10 mg/L) and the other 4 contained high concentrations of PE not eliminated by the pretreatment. The 84 negative pretreated specimens were rescreened with Roche Online® KIMS AMP immunoassay giving 41 positives. These 41 screened positive specimens were retested by Abbott TDx® AMP/MA II immunoassay, cut-off 0.3 mg/L, giving 13 positives which confirmed by GC/MS as follows: 2 AMP, 1 Fen/PE, 1 Fen/Phen/PE, 6 Fen/Phen and 3 unknown. Fen and Phen concentrations ranged from 0.4 - >6 and 0.2 - >6.5 mg/L, respectively. Base extraction of the 41 screened positive urines followed by gaschromatography (NPD) analysis confirmed an additional 24 specimens containing PE, E, or PPA. In conclusion, 89 of 9417 randomly collected urine specimens contained amphetamine-like compounds as follows: 1 MA/AMP, 2 AMP, 1 Fen, 1 Fen/PE, 1 Fen/Phen/PE, 6 Fen/Phen, 74 a-hydroxyamines (PE, E, PPA) and 3 unidentified compounds.

Oral Presentations Abstract 014

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