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Buprenorphine and nor‐buprenorphine levels in head hair samples from former heroin users under Suboxone® treatment
Author(s) -
Belivanis Stamatis,
Tzatzarakis Manolis N.,
Vakonaki Elena,
Kovatsi Leda,
Mantsi Mary,
Alegakis Athanasios,
Kavvalakis Matthaios P.,
Vynias Dionisios,
Tsatsakis Aristidis M.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
drug testing and analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.065
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1942-7611
pISSN - 1942-7603
DOI - 10.1002/dta.1611
Subject(s) - buprenorphine , chemistry , chromatography , quartile , anesthesia , medicine , opioid , confidence interval , biochemistry , receptor
In the current study, buprenorphine (BUP) and its major metabolite, nor‐buprenorphine (NBUP), were determined in hair samples from former heroin users following Suboxone® treatment. Hair samples from 36 subjects were analyzed. The drugs of interest were isolated from hair by solid‐liquid extraction with methanol and were determined by liquid chromatography‐mass spectrometry, using an electrospray ionization interface. The analytical parameters of the method (such as linearity, limits of quantification, recovery, accuracy, and precision) were determined. The inter‐quartile range of BUP levels was from 11.4 to 37.4 pg/mg (mean value 56.6 pg/mg) for the proximal hair segment, from 5.8 to 43.3 pg/mg for the middle hair segment (mean value 25.3 pg/mg), while a range from 4.3 to 33.9 pg/mg (mean value 105.2 pg/mg) for the distant to the root hair segment was determined. For NBUP the corresponding inter‐quartile range was from 27.0 to 147.6 for the proximal segment (mean value 95.4 pg/mg), from 21.5 to 164.7 pg/mg for the middle segment (mean value 102.0 pg/mg) and from 20.4 to 103.6 pg/mg for the distant segment (mean value 156.8 pg/mg). The mean BUP/NBUP concentration ratio was 0.5. The daily dose of Suboxone® correlated significantly with BUP and NBUP levels in hair (p = 0.001 and p = 0.023) as well as with the BUP/NBUP ratio (p = 0.010). No significant correlation was found between the levels of BUP and NBUP and the duration of Suboxone® administration. The developed and validated method was successfully used for the determination of BUP and NBUP in hair samples collected from former heroin users under Suboxone® treatment. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.