Environmental and Public Health Analytical Chemistry, Research Institute for Pesticides and Water, University Jaume I, Avda. Sos Baynat s/n, Castellón, 12071, Spain.
J Mass Spectrom. 2021 Jul;56(7):e4673. doi: 10.1002/jms.4673. Epub 2020 Nov 5.
New psychoactive substances (NPS) are a wide group of compounds that try to mimic the effects produced by the 'classical' illicit drugs, including cannabis (synthetic cannabinoids), cocaine and amphetamines (synthetic cathinones) or heroin (synthetic opioids), and which health effects are still unknown for most of them. Nowadays, more than 700 compounds are being monitored by official organisms, some of which have been recently identified in seizures and/or intoxication cases. Toxicological analysis plays a pivotal role in NPS research. A comprehensive investigation on NPS, from the first identification of a novel substance until its detection in drug users to help in diagnostics and medical treatment, requires the use of a wide variety of instruments and analytical strategies. This paper illustrates the key role of mass spectrometry (MS) along a comprehensive investigation on NPS. The synthetic cannabinoid XLR-11 and the synthetic cathinone 5-PPDi have been chosen as representative substances of the most consumed NPS families. Moreover, both compounds have been investigated at our laboratory in different stages of the three-step strategy considered in this article. The initial identification and characterisation of the compound in consumption products, the first reported metabolic pathway and the development of analytical methodologies for its determination (and/or their metabolites) in different toxicological samples are described. The analytical strategies and MS instruments are briefly discussed to show the reader the possibilities that MS instrumentation offer to analytical scientists. This publication aims to be a starting point for those interested on the NPS research field from an analytical chemistry point of view.
新精神活性物质（NPS）是一大类试图模拟“经典”非法药物（包括大麻（合成大麻素）、可卡因和苯丙胺（合成卡西酮）或海洛因（合成阿片类药物））产生的效果的化合物，其中大多数的健康影响仍然未知。如今，有 700 多种化合物受到官方机构的监测，其中一些已在缉获物和/或中毒案件中被发现。毒理学分析在 NPS 研究中起着关键作用。从新物质的首次鉴定到其在吸毒者中的检测，对 NPS 进行全面调查，以帮助诊断和治疗，需要使用各种各样的仪器和分析策略。本文说明了质谱（MS）在 NPS 全面调查中的关键作用。选择合成大麻素 XLR-11 和合成卡西酮 5-PPDi 作为最常消费的 NPS 家族的代表性物质。此外，这两种化合物都在我们实验室的本文考虑的三步策略的不同阶段进行了研究。描述了在消费产品中对化合物的初步鉴定和特征描述、首次报道的代谢途径以及为在不同毒理学样本中对其（及其代谢物）进行测定而开发的分析方法。简要讨论了分析策略和 MS 仪器，以向读者展示 MS 仪器为分析科学家提供的可能性。本文旨在为那些从分析化学角度对 NPS 研究领域感兴趣的人提供一个起点。
