Development and validation of an analytical methodology for cocaine and nicotine determination in meconium samples by gas cromatography / mass spectrometry

• Grant number: 09/17845-8
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: October 01, 2010
• End date: September 30, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Analytical Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Bruno Spinosa de Martinis
• Grantee: Bruno Spinosa de Martinis
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

For the sake of healing, religious, recreational or even existential, drugs follow the history of mankind. The World Report on Drugs, published in 2008 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), about 208 million people or 4.9% of world population between 15 and 64 years old had used illicit drugs at least once in last 12 months. The number of dependent users of these drugs is 26 million people or 0.6% of world population between 15 and 64 years. Among these 26 million users, there is a very special population and high risk, who are pregnant. The use of drugs, especially cocaine and tobacco by pregnant women is associated with several diseases to the health of the pregnant woman and fetus by intra-uterine exposure. The nicotine (the main component of tobacco) and cocaine can cause many complications on the human being, with events from the intra-uterine period until adulthood. These substances are closely related to restriction of intrauterine growth and prematurity, whose consequences are reflected in the birth of pre-term children with low weight and increased risk of occurrence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The development of a rapid and sensitive method using gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for analysis of cocaine, nicotine, derivatives and metabolites in samples of meconium, to identify with certainty, the fetal exposure to drugs used by mothers, providing important information to guide the procedures postpartum follow-up of the newborn and mother, and may even be included in the analysis as a routine examination of the Hospital, for cases where there is suspicion of consumption of cocaine and / or tobacco by pregnant women. (AU)