TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2003//
TI  - High prevalence of 6-acetylmorphine in morphine-positive oral fluid specimens
JO  - Forensic science international
A1  - Presley, Lance
A1  - Lehrer, Michael
A1  - Seiter, William
A1  - Hahn, Dawn
A1  - Rowland, Barbara
A1  - Smith, Melissa
A1  - Kardos, Keith W.
A1  - Fritch, Dean
A1  - Salamone, Sal
A1  - Niedbala, R. Sam
A1  - Cone, Edward J.
SP  - 22
EP  - 25
VL  - 133
IS  - 1-2
N2  - Identification of 6-acetylmorphine, a specific metabolite of heroin, is considered to be definitive evidence of heroin use. Although 6-acetylmorphine has been identified in oral fluid following controlled heroin administration, no prevalence data is available for oral fluid specimens collected in the workplace. We evaluated the prevalence of positive test results for 6-acetylmorphine in 77,218 oral fluid specimens collected over a 10-month period (January-October 2001) from private workplace testing programs. Specimens were analyzed by Intercept immunoassay (cutoff concentration=30 ng/ml) and confirmed by GC-MS-MS (cutoff concentrations=30 ng/ml for morphine and codeine, and 3 ng/ml for 6-acetylmorphine). Only morphine-positive oral fluid specimens were tested by GC-MS-MS for 6-acetylmorphine. A total of 48 confirmed positive morphine results were identified. An additional 107 specimens were confirmed for codeine only. Of the 48 morphine-positive specimens, 32 (66.7%) specimens were positive for 6-acetylmorphine. Mean concentrations (+/-S.E.M.) of morphine, 6-acetylmorphine and codeine in the 32 specimens were 755+/-201, 416+/-168 and 196+/-36 ng/ml, respectively. Concentrations of 6-acetylmorphine in oral fluid ranged from 3 to 4095 ng/ml. The mean ratio (+/-S.E.M.) of 6-acetylmorphine/morphine was 0.33+/-0.06. It is suggested that, based on controlled dose studies of heroin administration, ratios >1 of 6-acetylmorphine/morphine in oral fluid are consistent with heroin use within the last hour before specimen collection. The confirmation of 6-acetylmorphine in 66.7% of morphine-positive oral fluid specimens indicates that oral fluid testing for opioids may offer advantages over urine in workplace drug testing programs and in testing drugged drivers for recent heroin use.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0379-0738
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -