Nowak Karolina, Szpot Paweł, Zawadzki Marcin, Chłopaś-Konowałek Agnieszka
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Opole, 48 Oleska Street, 45052, Opole, Poland.
Institute of Toxicology Research, Borowa, Poland.
Forensic Toxicol. 2025 Jul;43(2):385-394. doi: 10.1007/s11419-024-00710-3. Epub 2024 Dec 19.
Cytisine is the active ingredient in preparations used for smoking cessation. Its popularity is attributed to its low cost, efficacy, and low incidence of adverse effects. Additionally, its easy over-the-counter availability is also significant. This accessibility makes it a potential substance for use in suicidal attempts. The aim of this study was to develop a method for the determination of cytisine in biological material for use in clinical and forensic toxicology, and to apply this method in authentic cases.
Biological samples were subjected to liquid-liquid extraction using cytisine-d as an internal standard. Analyses were performed using a Hydrophilic Interaction Liquid Chromatography (HILIC) column with the technique of ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry.
For both matrices (blood and urine), the linear concentration range was 5-1000 ng/mL. The method met all validation requirements. The concentration of cytisine in a man taking it for smoking cessation in post-mortem materials was 21.4 ng/mL in blood, 958.9 ng/mL in urine, ca. 30 ng/mL in vitreous humor, and ca. 40 ng/mL in bile. In contrast, for a man with cytisine intoxication, the concentration was 174.6 ng/mL in blood and > 10,000 ng/mL in urine. In both cases, no N-methylcytisine was detected.
The developed method can be used for the determination of cytisine in post-mortem biological matrices as well as for clinical purpose. We presented the concentrations of cytisine in the post-mortem biological samples of a man taking cytisine for smoking cessation and of a man with suicidal cytisine poisoning.
金雀花碱是用于戒烟制剂中的活性成分。其受欢迎的原因在于成本低、疗效好且不良反应发生率低。此外，其易于非处方获取这一点也很重要。这种可及性使其成为自杀未遂中可能被使用的物质。本研究的目的是开发一种用于临床和法医毒理学中生物材料内金雀花碱测定的方法，并将该方法应用于实际案例。
生物样品以氘代金雀花碱作为内标进行液 - 液萃取。使用亲水作用液相色谱（HILIC）柱，采用超高效液相色谱与三重四极杆串联质谱联用技术进行分析。
对于两种基质（血液和尿液），线性浓度范围均为5 - 1000 ng/mL。该方法满足所有验证要求。在死后材料中，一名服用金雀花碱戒烟男子的血液中金雀花碱浓度为21.4 ng/mL，尿液中为958.9 ng/mL，玻璃体液中约为30 ng/mL，胆汁中约为40 ng/mL。相比之下，一名金雀花碱中毒男子的血液中浓度为174.6 ng/mL，尿液中浓度>10000 ng/mL。在这两种情况下，均未检测到N - 甲基金雀花碱。
所开发的方法可用于死后生物基质内金雀花碱的测定以及临床目的。我们展示了一名服用金雀花碱戒烟男子和一名金雀花碱自杀中毒男子死后生物样品中的金雀花碱浓度。
