The analysis of stimulants drugs in saliva, urine and blood samples

In recent years, remarkable advances in sensitive analytical techniques and effective sample preparation procedures have enabled the analysis of drugs in unconventional biologic specimens such as saliva. Human saliva can be easily obtained by noninvasive techniques and contains many analytes of interest for forensic applications. Collection of saliva is rapid, noninvasive, and relatively easy to perform. There are several devices to collect saliva samples, each one with its own special advantages and disadvantages. The aim of the present research was to develop a new method for detection of stimulant compounds and illicit drugs in saliva and to study the correlations between saliva and serum or urine levels. It is known that there are problems with the variation of drug concentrations depending upon how the saliva is obtained. The stimulant compounds examined were the ones included in CIO lists with a widespread diffusion in commercial products (ephedrine, phenylpropanolamine, pseudoephedrine) and the drugs of abuse were cocaine, amphetamines and several designer drugs. Different collection devices were compared to find the best product to be used to collect samples. Every step of the analytical procedure was studied. Several screening procedures were evaluated and conditions for the extraction prior the GC/MS analysis were optimised. The method developed was then validated. Samples were collected from drug abusers admitted to centers for detoxification treatment and from volunteers. The study showed that saliva may be applicable for sample-taking on the road side to investigate the involvement of drugs in impaired driving and for doping analysis of athletes. Several cases of interpretation of analytical results in comparison with those obtained from urine and blood samples were studied.