Combined Use of Flubromazepam and Stimulants: Blood and Oral Fluid Concentrations and Impact on Driving Ability

• Published in: Journal of analytical toxicology 2023-01, Vol.46 (9), p.e280-e284
• Main Authors: Wille, Sarah M R, Bouazzati, Malika, Rubbens, Jari, Di Fazio, Vincent, Samyn, Nele
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amphetamine - analysis; Benzodiazepines - analysis; Central Nervous System Stimulants; Humans; Male; N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine; Substance Abuse Detection - methods
• ISSN: 0146-4760; 1945-2403
• DOI: 10.1093/jat/bkac071

"Designer" benzodiazepines (DBZDs) are becoming increasingly available in Europe, with the European Monitoring Centre of Drugs and Drug Addiction currently monitoring ∼30 new benzodiazepines. The following driving under the influence of drug (DUID) case describes the oral fluid (OF) and blood concentrations, as well as the observed effects after the combined use of stimulants and flubromazepam. Both OF, collected via the Intercept i2 collector (Immunalysis, Pomona, CA, USA), and blood (collected in containers with various stabilizers) were screened using a liquid chromatographic (LC) time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometric (MS-MS) method. In addition, various LC-MS-MS methods in multi-reaction monitoring mode were applied for confirmation and quantification. The OF and blood samples were taken 2 h 25 min and 9 h 19 min after the accident, respectively. OF contained 789 ng/mL amphetamine, 5,173 ng/mL MDMA, 168 ng/mL benzoylecgonine, 492 ng/mL cocaine, 134 ng/mL 4-methylmethcathinone (4-MMC) and traces of flubromazepam (less than limit of quantification (LLOQ); 2 ng/mL). The sodium-fluoride blood samples contained 19 ng/mL amphetamine, 284 ng/mL MDMA, 20 ng/mL MDA, 38 ng/mL benzoylecgonine, 4 ng/mL methylecgonine, 161 ng/mL flubromazepam and traces of 4-MMC (