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Etorphine in man. II. Detectability in urine by common screening methods
Author(s) -
Gorodetzky Charles W.,
Kullberg M. Peter
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
clinical pharmacology and therapeutics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.941
H-Index - 188
eISSN - 1532-6535
pISSN - 0009-9236
DOI - 10.1002/cpt1975173273
Subject(s) - chromatography , chemistry , derivatization , etorphine , urine , immunoassay , extraction (chemistry) , radioimmunoassay , gas chromatography–mass spectrometry , gas chromatography , high performance liquid chromatography , opioid , medicine , mass spectrometry , (+) naloxone , biochemistry , receptor , antibody , immunology
A single highly euphorogenic dose of etorphine, 100 µg, was administered subcutaneously to 7 nontolerant subjects, and all urine samples were collected for 1 day prior to and 3 days following drug administration. Samples were analyzed for the presence of opiates by radioimmunoassay (Abuscreen) and homogeneous enzyme immunoassay (EMIT), with cutoffs for “positives” of 40 and 500 ng/ml, respectively. Samples were analyzed for etorphine by thin‐layer chromatography (TLC) with iodoplatinate preceded by XAD‐2 resin extraction (sensitivity = 0.2 µg etorphine/ml of urine) and by gas‐liquid chromatography (GLC) preceded by organic solvent extraction and trimethylsilyl derivatization (sensitivity = 0.1 µg etorphine/ml of urine). The last pre‐drug and first two post‐drug samples were also analyzed after acid hydrolysis by TLC and after glucuronidase hydrolysis by TLC and GLC. No sample gave a “positive” opiate result in either immunoassay, and no etorphine was detected in the TLC and GLC analyses of any urine sample. Thus, it is unlikely that the abuse of etorphine could be diagnosed by urinalysis using the common screening methods of radioimmunoassay, EMIT, TLC preceded by XAD‐2 resin extraction, or GLC preceded by organic solvent extraction and trimethylsilyl derivatization.