Moore K A, Sklerov J, Levine B, Jacobs A J
Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Division of Forensic Toxicology, Rockville, Maryland 20850-3125, USA.
J Anal Toxicol. 2001 Oct;25(7):583-8. doi: 10.1093/jat/25.7.583.
Ketamine, an anesthetic agent primarily used in veterinary medicine and pediatrics, continues to gain in popularity in the drug abuse scene or 'Rave Wave' of all-night dance clubs. The Division of Forensic Toxicology Laboratory (Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner) at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, as the primary analytical laboratory for criminal investigative agencies in the Department of Defense (DOD), has seen requests for ketamine analysis rise from 1 in 1997 to 116 in 2000. This increasing abuse has led the DOD Urine Drug Testing Laboratories to consider adding ketamine screening to their random urinalysis program. However, before ketamine testing can be implemented as standard policy, concentrations of ketamine and metabolites in urine need to be evaluated after actual drug use. There is very little information regarding the pharmacokinetics of ketamine, especially concentrations of the drug or its two major metabolites, norketamine and dehydronorketamine, that can be expected in urine. In fact, dehydronorketamine has been believed to be an analytical artifact caused by the high temperatures of gas chromatography. In this paper, we attempt to resolve this issue with the development of a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method. The urine concentrations of ketamine, norketamine and dehydronorketamine (presumptive) detected in 33 "positive" cases received in our laboratory since 1998 are reported. Quantitations were accomplished with LC-MS. Ketamine concentrations ranged from 6 to 7744 ng/mL. Norketamine concentrations ranged from 7 to 7986 ng/mL and dehydronorketamine (presumptive) concentrations ranged from 37 to 23,239 ng/mL.
氯胺酮是一种主要用于兽医学和儿科的麻醉剂，在药物滥用领域或通宵跳舞俱乐部的“狂欢浪潮”中越来越受欢迎。作为国防部刑事调查机构的主要分析实验室，武装部队病理研究所法医毒理学实验室（武装部队法医办公室）发现，对氯胺酮分析的需求从1997年的1例增加到2000年的116例。这种滥用情况的增加促使国防部尿液药物检测实验室考虑在其随机尿液分析计划中增加氯胺酮筛查。然而，在将氯胺酮检测作为标准政策实施之前，需要在实际使用药物后评估尿液中氯胺酮及其代谢物的浓度。关于氯胺酮的药代动力学，尤其是尿液中可能出现的该药物或其两种主要代谢物去甲氯胺酮和脱氢去甲氯胺酮的浓度，相关信息非常少。事实上，脱氢去甲氯胺酮一直被认为是气相色谱高温导致的分析假象。在本文中，我们试图通过开发一种液相色谱 - 质谱（LC - MS）方法来解决这个问题。报告了自1998年以来我们实验室收到的33例“阳性”病例中检测到的氯胺酮、去甲氯胺酮和脱氢去甲氯胺酮（推定）的尿液浓度。定量分析通过LC - MS完成。氯胺酮浓度范围为6至7744 ng/mL。去甲氯胺酮浓度范围为7至7986 ng/mL，脱氢去甲氯胺酮（推定）浓度范围为37至23239 ng/mL。
