Time course detection of dihydrocodeine in body hair after a single dose

• Published in: Forensic science international 2019-09, Vol.302, p.109864-109864, Article 109864
• Main Authors: Ramírez Fernández, María del Mar, Wille, Sarah M.R., Di Fazio, Vincent, Samyn, Nele
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analgesics, Opioid - administration & dosage; Analgesics, Opioid - analysis; Arm; Body hair; Cation exchange; Cation exchanging; Centrifugation; Chest; Chromatography, Liquid; Codeine - administration & dosage; Codeine - analogs & derivatives; Codeine - analysis; Controlled study; Dichloromethane; Dihydrocodeine; Drug dosages; Female; Forensic sciences; Formic acid; Growth rate; Hair; Hair - chemistry; Hair analysis; Head; Humans; Leg; Legs; Liquid chromatography; Male; Mass spectrometry; Mass spectroscopy; Methanol; Scalp; Separation; Shampoos; Single intake; Skin; Solid phases; Sonication; Spectroscopy; Tandem Mass Spectrometry; Tubes; UPLC-MS/MS
• ISSN: 0379-0738; 1872-6283
• DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2019.06.022

•Detection window of dihydrocodeine in shaved legs and beard after a single dose.•Detection of dihydrocodeine in chest, arm and leg hair after a single dose.•Distribution dihydrocodeine concentrations over the scalp in a man. When head hair is not suitable or not available, body hair, such as leg or beard hair might be the most suitable sample for drug hair analysis. Information about the time course of drugs in hair, from the different anatomical body sites, should still be well documented. The aim of this study was to determine and compare (a) the detection window of dihydrocodeine in frequently shaved legs and beard, (b) in unshaved hair from head hair, chest hair, leg hair, and/or arm hair, and (c) the distribution concentrations over the scalp, after a single dihydrocodeine intake. Before a single intake of 12 mg dihydrocodeine by subject 1 (woman), both legs hair were shaved in the morning. The subject 2 (man) shaved his beard in the morning and 30 min later he had a dose of 10 mg of dihydrocodeine. The samples were washed with water and shampoo, dried and collected as follows: Subject 1: every 3-days shaved leg hair (n = 9) and 1-month-later head hair (n = 1). Subject 2: daily shaved beard hair (n = 15), 2 months later head hair (n = 145), and every 20 days unshaved arm, leg and chest hair (from different areas) (n = 4/area). The samples were analysed for dihydrocodeine using a validated liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method with a limit of quantification (LOQ) of 15.6 pg/mg for dihydrocodeine. About 20 mg of hair samples were weighted, washed with dichloromethane, centrifuged, dried, and pulverized in the same disposable tubes. Then the samples were incubated with methanol (under sonication at 45 °C) during 4 h. After centrifugation, the supernatant was evaporated and a cation exchange solid phase extraction followed by separation and quantification using ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (ULC-MS/MS) was carried out. Chromatographic separation was achieved using a BEH phenyl column eluted with 0.1% formic acid: methanol (0.1% formic acid). The UPLC-MS/MS method was validated and used in routine for drug hair analysis for already several years. In the present study leg hair was collected every 3 days, as an average of frequent shaved hair in western woman population. Shaved leg hair was very limited and only one hair sample was available per analysis. Beard was collected daily and in a higher amount. Di