Deposition of 7-Aminoclonazepam and Clonazepam in Hair Following a Single Dose of Klonopin

• Published in: Journal of analytical toxicology 2002-10, Vol.26 (7), p.471-478
• Main Authors: Negrusz, Adam, Bowen, Andrew M., Moore, Christine M., Dowd, Sheila M., Strong, Mary Jane, Janicak, Philip G.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Anticonvulsants - analysis; Anticonvulsants - pharmacokinetics; Anticonvulsants - pharmacology; Clonazepam - analogs & derivatives; Clonazepam - analysis; Clonazepam - metabolism; Clonazepam - pharmacokinetics; Clonazepam - pharmacology; Female; Forensic Medicine - methods; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Hair - chemistry; Hair - metabolism; Humans; Male; Middle Aged
• ISSN: 0146-4760; 1945-2403
• DOI: 10.1093/jat/26.7.471

The objective of this paper was to determine whether benzodiazepine clonazepam (CLO) and its major metabolite 7-aminoclonazepam (7-ACLO) could be detected in hair collected from healthy volunteers after receiving a single 3-mg dose of Klonopin (clonazepam). Such data would be of great importance to law enforcement agencies trying to determine the best time interval for hair collection from a victim of drug-facilitated sexual assault (DFSA) in order to reveal drug use. Ten healthy volunteers (6 women and 4 men, 23–49 years old) participated in the study. The following hair samples were collected from each volunteer: one before CLO administration, and 1, 3, 5, 14, 21, and 28 days after. All hair samples were pulverized and 50-mg aliquots were sonicated in methanol and digested with 0.1N HCI at 55°C for 18–24 h. Internal standard, diazepam-d5 (DIAZ-d5) was used. Both extracts were combined and extracted using HCX solid-phase extraction columns. After derivatization with HFBA all extracts were analyzed using highly sensitive negative chemical ionization gas cbrometography-mass spectrometry. Standard curves for CLO (20–100 pg/mg) and 7-ACLO (1–20 pg/mg) were prepared by spiking aliquots (50 mg) of negative hair and had correlation coefficients of 0.985 and 0.989, respectively. In addition, two levels of control hair were prepared for CLO and 7-ACLO. All method validation parameters were within acceptable limits. 7-ACLO was detected in hair of 6 out of 10 volunteers. In two cases 7-ACLO appeared in hair three days after CLO intake and remained detectable for the entire 28-day study period (3.6–8.4 pg/mg and 2.7–3.0 pg/mg), and in two subjects it was detectable 21 days later (4.9 and 2.7 pg/mg and 1.2 and 23 pg/mg). In two volunteers 7-ACLO was detected only on day 28 (1.8 and 3.3 pg/mg). CLO was not detected in any of the samples.