Comparison of Laboratory Confirmed Drugs in Acute Recreational Drug Toxicity Presentations to an Urban Hospital in London, UK, 2016/17 versus 2019/20.

IF 2.5 4区 医学 Q3 TOXICOLOGY
Caitlin E Wolfe, Lachlan J Sund, John Rh Archer, Ashley Rowe, Simon Hudson, David M Wood, Paul I Dargan
{"title":"Comparison of Laboratory Confirmed Drugs in Acute Recreational Drug Toxicity Presentations to an Urban Hospital in London, UK, 2016/17 versus 2019/20.","authors":"Caitlin E Wolfe, Lachlan J Sund, John Rh Archer, Ashley Rowe, Simon Hudson, David M Wood, Paul I Dargan","doi":"10.1007/s13181-024-01051-8","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Novel Psychoactive Substance (NPS) use is increasingly prevalent and is often associated with severe acute recreational drug toxicity (ARDT). 258 UK deaths were attributed to NPS use in 2021. Confirmatory testing which identifies NPS is limited by expense and timeliness. We aimed to identify NPS and other recreational drugs in a sample of 1000 ARDT presentations to a central London hospital in 2019/20 and to compare these drugs to those identified from a previous cohort in 2016/2017.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We prospectively enrolled 1000 serum samples from ARDT presentations to St Thomas' Hospital between February 2019 and February 2020. Serum samples were deidentified and underwent qualitative analysis via mass spectrometry. Results were returned at the conclusion of testing and statistical analysis performed using 'R' (R Foundation for Statistical Computing).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Twenty-eight unique NPS were detected in 2019/20, compared to 31 in 2016/17. Eight new NPS were detected in 2019/20: four benzodiazepines, two synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists, one cathinone and one ketamine-analogue. No NPS opioids were detected in either cohort. Cannabis (16%,11% p = 0.02), ketamine (12%,7% p < 0.01) and opioids (57%,24% p < 0.01) were detected significantly more frequently in 2019/20 than in 2016/17, while alcohol (22%,49% p < 0.01), cathinones (1%,15% p < 0.01), GHB (14%,20% p < 0.01) and MDMA (9%,18% p < 0.01) were detected less frequently.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Studies that utilise confirmatory testing to detect NPS in presentations of ARDT provide important information for public health interventions. More NPS benzodiazepines and fewer NPS cathinones were detected in 2019/20, following temporal trends of forensic detection throughout Europe and reinforcing the importance of identifying emerging drugs.</p>","PeriodicalId":16429,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Medical Toxicology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Medical Toxicology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s13181-024-01051-8","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"TOXICOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0

Abstract

Introduction: Novel Psychoactive Substance (NPS) use is increasingly prevalent and is often associated with severe acute recreational drug toxicity (ARDT). 258 UK deaths were attributed to NPS use in 2021. Confirmatory testing which identifies NPS is limited by expense and timeliness. We aimed to identify NPS and other recreational drugs in a sample of 1000 ARDT presentations to a central London hospital in 2019/20 and to compare these drugs to those identified from a previous cohort in 2016/2017.

Methods: We prospectively enrolled 1000 serum samples from ARDT presentations to St Thomas' Hospital between February 2019 and February 2020. Serum samples were deidentified and underwent qualitative analysis via mass spectrometry. Results were returned at the conclusion of testing and statistical analysis performed using 'R' (R Foundation for Statistical Computing).

Results: Twenty-eight unique NPS were detected in 2019/20, compared to 31 in 2016/17. Eight new NPS were detected in 2019/20: four benzodiazepines, two synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists, one cathinone and one ketamine-analogue. No NPS opioids were detected in either cohort. Cannabis (16%,11% p = 0.02), ketamine (12%,7% p < 0.01) and opioids (57%,24% p < 0.01) were detected significantly more frequently in 2019/20 than in 2016/17, while alcohol (22%,49% p < 0.01), cathinones (1%,15% p < 0.01), GHB (14%,20% p < 0.01) and MDMA (9%,18% p < 0.01) were detected less frequently.

Conclusions: Studies that utilise confirmatory testing to detect NPS in presentations of ARDT provide important information for public health interventions. More NPS benzodiazepines and fewer NPS cathinones were detected in 2019/20, following temporal trends of forensic detection throughout Europe and reinforcing the importance of identifying emerging drugs.

求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 求助全文
来源期刊
CiteScore
5.40
自引率
10.30%
发文量
46
期刊介绍: Journal of Medical Toxicology (JMT) is a peer-reviewed medical journal dedicated to advances in clinical toxicology, focusing on the diagnosis, management, and prevention of poisoning and other adverse health effects resulting from medications, chemicals, occupational and environmental substances, and biological hazards. As the official journal of the American College of Medical Toxicology (ACMT), JMT is managed by an editorial board of clinicians as well as scientists and thus publishes research that is relevant to medical toxicologists, emergency physicians, critical care specialists, pediatricians, pre-hospital providers, occupational physicians, substance abuse experts, veterinary toxicologists, and policy makers.       JMT articles generate considerable interest in the lay media, with 2016 JMT articles cited by various social media sites, the Boston Globe, and the Washington Post among others.     For questions or comments about the journal, please contact jmtinfo@acmt.net.    For questions or comments about the journal, please contact jmtinfo@acmt.net.
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术官方微信