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Poster Presentation: A Case Report Involving the Detection of Five New Psychoactive Substances in Postmortem Analysis

by | Jan 3, 2023 | Drug Classes

In October, toxicologist Stuart Kurtz presented a poster at the annual National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) meeting in Dallas, TX. The abstract is below.

A Case Report Involving the Detection of Five New Psychoactive Substances in Postmortem Analysis.  

Stuart A. K. Kurtz, MS (1), Billy Scott (2), George S. Behonick, Ph.D., F-ABFT (1), and Kevin G. Shanks (1), MS, D-ABFT-FT 

(1) Axis Forensic Toxicology, Indianapolis, IN, USA; (2) Clark County Coroner, Jeffersonville, IN, USA 

Scheduling of fentanyl analogs in recent years has created a shift in new synthetic opioids (NSO) that are being detected by drug and toxicology laboratories. While the detection of fentanyl analogs has decreased, other NSOs have risen to fill the space. The intention of these NSOs is to mimic the effects on the body of prescription medications and previously available illicit drugs. They are often drugs that were synthesized by pharmaceutical companies in the mid-1900s, but studies were halted leaving a gap in information as to how the drugs behave pharmokinetically and pharmacodynamically. The constant emergence of these compounds creates detection challenges for laboratories, medical examiners, and coroners. Flualprazolam, a designer benzodiazepine, has also emerged in recent years in the illicit drug market. This case report involves the detection of four NSOs (brorphine, fluorofentanyl, flunitazene, metonitazene) with three different class types (benzimidizol-2-one, fentanyl analog, nitazene analog) and a designer benzodiazepine (flualprazolam). 

Jugular blood was submitted for toxicological analysis. The screen utilizes an extraction followed by high resolution mass spectrometry via liquid chromatography quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (LC-QToF-MS). Novel psychoactive substance subclasses screened for include NSOs, designer benzodiazepines, synthetic cathinones (bath salts), and synthetic cannabinoids. Toxicological findings include methamphetamine (245 ng/mL), fentanyl (40.1 ng/mL), norfentanyl (3.3 ng/mL), and the qualitative presence of cotinine, quinine, 4-ANPP, brorphine, fluorofentanyl, flunitazene, and metonitazene. 

There are a few things I would like to highlight here. The first is the instrumentation that we use to identify compounds of interest in a sample. We use liquid chromatography paired with a quadrupole and time-of-flight mass spectrometer (LC-QToF-MS). This allows us to collect data in such a way that we can go back and reprocess the data to see if something is present in the sample. 

The second thing is the whack-a-mole game that is ongoing when it comes to identifying these NPS compounds. The lifecycle of an NPS in the drug supply is often determined by government scheduling of either the NPS itself or the materials that are used to synthesize it. They can show up abruptly and gradually begin to replace one or more compounds. An example of this is the emergence of flualprazolam and isotonitazene mixtures in 2019. The scheduling of isotonitzene led to the emergence of brorphine in that mixture in 2020. 

Thirdly, detection of NPS in post-mortem casework can have a lag time of weeks to months depending on the intelligence data available. Information that can greatly improve our ability to upgrade our testing to including compounds of interest is scene data. Testing the unknown substances at the scene is the best way to determine what to look for. The data from the LC-QToF-MS can be processed to look for compounds that were previously not monitored in our methods. However, this is best done when there is the identification of something specific in seized drugs in a jurisdiction but is even more precise with scene identification of a compound. 

Lastly, it is important to utilize identification techniques that are specific. These include LC-QToF-MS, liquid chromatography paired with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry, and gas chromatography paired with mass spectrometry. These techniques are significantly less prone to false positives and false negatives. The methods that use these techniques often go through rigorous validation to show what the limits are to prevent false positives and false negatives. Less specific techniques such as immunoassays, color tests, and test strips are prone to false positives and false negatives. These types of tests tend to rely on core structures and/or functional groups. The core structure of morphine is different from fentanyl so one of these non-specific tests that work for morphine may not be able to detect fentanyl. 

There were 5 different portions of powder collected at the scene. A plastic baggy and folded up receipt were described to contain a blackish/grayish substance. 3 additional folded up receipts were collected and described to contain white powders. Brorphine and flualprazolam are often seen together in seized drug material and sometimes known as “benzo dope.” Metonitazene and flunitazene were also identified with flualprazolam in our casework. We do not have any information on whether they were mixed with the flualprazolam and consumed. A limitation of toxicology testing is it does not tell you if something was consumed in the same mixture as something else. The wider investigation would have to determine if that was a possibility. The MOD and COD were determined to be accidental due to methamphetamine and fentanyl toxicity. The methamphetamine level was 245 ng/mL and the fentanyl level was 40.1 ng/mL. 

As always, please reach out to us with questions. We are happy to help guide toxicology testing and interpretation however we can. 

Keary CJ, Wang Y, Moran JR, Zayas LV, Stern TA. Toxicologic testing for opiates: understanding false-positive and false-negative test results. Prim Care Companion CNS Disord. 2012;14(4):PCC.12f01371. doi: 10.4088/PCC.12f01371. Epub 2012 Jul 26. PMID: 23251863; PMCID: PMC3505132. 

Marthe M Vandeputte, Alex J Krotulski, Donna M Papsun, Barry K Logan, Christophe P Stove, The Rise and Fall of Isotonitazene and Brorphine: Two Recent Stars in the Synthetic Opioid Firmament, Journal of Analytical Toxicology, Volume 46, Issue 2, March 2022, Pages 115-121, https://doi.org/10.1093/jat/bkab082 

Truver MT, Chronister CW, Kinsey AM, Hoyer JL, Goldberger BA. Toxicological Analysis of Fluorofentanyl Isomers in Postmortem Blood. J Anal Toxicol. 2022 Mar 11:bkac014. doi: 10.1093/jat/bkac014. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35277721. 

The Center for Forensic Science Research & Education. 2022 Q2 NPS Opioids Trend Report. https://www.npsdiscovery.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/2022-Q2_NPS-Opioids_Trend-Report.pdf 

Blanckaert, P, Balcaen, M, Vanhee, C, et al. Analytical characterization of “etonitazepyne,” a new pyrrolidinyl-containing 2-benzylbenzimidazole opioid sold online. Drug Test Anal. 2021; 13( 9): 1627– 1634. https://doi.org/10.1002/dta.3113 

Sara E Walton, Alex J Krotulski, Barry K Logan, A Forward-Thinking Approach to Addressing the New Synthetic Opioid 2-Benzylbenzimidazole Nitazene Analogs by Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry (LC–QQQ-MS), Journal of Analytical Toxicology, Volume 46, Issue 3, April 2022, Pages 221–231, https://doi.org/10.1093/jat/bkab117 

If you would like a copy of the poster, please email [email protected].

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