{"title":"Enantiomeric Determination of Medetomidine in Street Drug Samples (August 2024-February 2025) and Implications for Immunoassay Test Strip Analysis.","authors":"Edward Sisco, Mónica Ventura, Sarah A Shuda","doi":"10.1002/dta.3947","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Over the last several years, there has been an influx of α<sub>2</sub>-agonists into the street drug supply, beginning with the proliferation of xylazine, a potent veterinary sedative. Since 2023, another sedative, medetomidine, has been widely detected. Medetomidine, broadly, encompasses two enantiomers-dexmedetomidine and levomedetomidine-with the dex enantiomer being pharmacologically active and present in human-use pharmaceuticals. In this work, we investigate street drug samples containing medetomidine to better understand the enantiomeric makeup in the illicit supply. Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was used to analyze 100 drug product or paraphernalia residue samples. All samples were found to contain a racemic mixture of medetomidine. A subset of samples was analyzed by medetomidine immunoassay test strips, where racemic mixtures were not found to negatively affect results. All samples were also qualitatively analyzed using direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry (DART-MS) to identify commonly co-occurring compounds, which included fentanyl, xylazine, and local anesthetics. Parabens, preservatives found in licit injectable preparations of the drug, were not detected. This work provides a snapshot into the medetomidine makeup of the street drug supply, which needs to be continually monitored given the differences in pharmacology between the two enantiomers.</p>","PeriodicalId":160,"journal":{"name":"Drug Testing and Analysis","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Drug Testing and Analysis","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1002/dta.3947","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"BIOCHEMICAL RESEARCH METHODS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Over the last several years, there has been an influx of α2-agonists into the street drug supply, beginning with the proliferation of xylazine, a potent veterinary sedative. Since 2023, another sedative, medetomidine, has been widely detected. Medetomidine, broadly, encompasses two enantiomers-dexmedetomidine and levomedetomidine-with the dex enantiomer being pharmacologically active and present in human-use pharmaceuticals. In this work, we investigate street drug samples containing medetomidine to better understand the enantiomeric makeup in the illicit supply. Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was used to analyze 100 drug product or paraphernalia residue samples. All samples were found to contain a racemic mixture of medetomidine. A subset of samples was analyzed by medetomidine immunoassay test strips, where racemic mixtures were not found to negatively affect results. All samples were also qualitatively analyzed using direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry (DART-MS) to identify commonly co-occurring compounds, which included fentanyl, xylazine, and local anesthetics. Parabens, preservatives found in licit injectable preparations of the drug, were not detected. This work provides a snapshot into the medetomidine makeup of the street drug supply, which needs to be continually monitored given the differences in pharmacology between the two enantiomers.
期刊介绍:
As the incidence of drugs escalates in 21st century living, their detection and analysis have become increasingly important. Sport, the workplace, crime investigation, homeland security, the pharmaceutical industry and the environment are just some of the high profile arenas in which analytical testing has provided an important investigative tool for uncovering the presence of extraneous substances.
In addition to the usual publishing fare of primary research articles, case reports and letters, Drug Testing and Analysis offers a unique combination of; ‘How to’ material such as ‘Tutorials’ and ‘Reviews’, Speculative pieces (‘Commentaries’ and ‘Perspectives'', providing a broader scientific and social context to the aspects of analytical testing), ‘Annual banned substance reviews’ (delivering a critical evaluation of the methods used in the characterization of established and newly outlawed compounds).
Rather than focus on the application of a single technique, Drug Testing and Analysis employs a unique multidisciplinary approach to the field of controversial compound determination. Papers discussing chromatography, mass spectrometry, immunological approaches, 1D/2D gel electrophoresis, to name just a few select methods, are welcomed where their application is related to any of the six key topics listed below.