Assessment of amphetamine use by professional drivers through urine toxicological analysis

Author(s)

Juliana Takitane

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Medicina (FM/SBD)
• Defense date: 2014-08-08

Examining board members

Maurício Yonamine; Lúcio Garcia de Oliveira

• Advisor: Maurício Yonamine

Abstract

In Brazil, studies indicate an increase of approximately 30% in the number of traffic accidents on federal highways, from 2008 to 2010 and, in 2010, cargo vehicles, specifically, were involved in 88,963 accidents. In fact, many professional drivers have tight deadlines to be met and, therefore, are forced to drive for long periods of time and/or without rest stops. In order to achieve this goal, some drivers end up resorting to the use of amphetamines, CNS stimulants, popularly known in Brazil as \"rebite\". Toxicological analyses used to verify the use of drugs by truck drivers in epidemiological studies are based on immunoassays screening tests and positive results are confirmed by mass spectrometry techniques. The commercially available screening tests detect the presence of amphetamine, which can be derived from the biotransformation of some drugs. However, truck drivers also report the use of anorectic Dualid® S, Hipofagin® S and Inibex® S, whose active compound is diethylpropion, which metabolizes directly to phenylpropanolamine. Therefore it is not detected by conventional screening tests, which can generate false-negative results and underestimate the number of positive cases. Thus, the aim of this study was the development and validation of a method for the detection of amphetamine, diethylpropion and fenproporex by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC-DAD) and the subsequent application of this method in urine samples collected from truck drivers. The liquid-liquid extraction of urine (2.0 mL) was carried out with diethyl ether (4.0 mL) and the validation was performed according to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime guidelines. The limits of detection and quantification were 120 and 150 ng/mL, respectively. The method was precise, with coefficients of variation less than 15% and the recovery for the three analytes was greater than 50%. The linearity covered the range of 150 ng/mL to 1000 ng/ml (r2 > 0.99) and for diethylpropion and amphetamine it was applied the weighting factor 1/y due to heteroscedasticity. Among the analyzed samples (n=385), nine were positive for amphetamine and one tested positive for femproporex and amphetamine. Sociodemographic profile of the interviewees was obtained through the application of questionnaires. The developed method proved to be accurate and sensitive, and thus can be used in epidemiological studies and in workplace drug testing (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 11/02848-1 - Assessment of amphetamine use by professional drivers through urine toxicological analysis
• Grantee: Juliana Takitane
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master