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Background The objective of this study was to identify high-yield screening risk factors for detecting maternal non-medical drug use during pregnancy. Methods A four year retrospective analysis was conducted at an academic medical center. Detailed chart review of both the newborn and mother’s medical record was performed on all cases for which one or more drug(s) or metabolite(s) were identified and confirmed in meconium or urine. Results 229 (9.2%) of 2,497 meconium samples out of 7,749 live births confirmed positive for one or more non-medical drugs. History of maternal non-medical drug and/or tobacco use in pregnancy was present in 90.8% of non-medical drug use cases. Addition of social risk factors and inadequate prenatal care increased the yield to 96.9%. Conclusions Use of focused screening criteria based on specific maternal and social risk factors may detect many prenatal non-medical drug exposures.

Drug abuse is a major public problem in the workplace, traffic, and forensic issues, which requires a standardized test device to monitor on-site drug use. For field testing, the most important requirements are portability, sensitivity, non-invasiveness, and quick results. Motivated by this problem, a point of care (POC) test based on lateral flow assay (LFA) was developed for the detection of cocaine (COC) and methamphetamine (MET) in saliva which has been selected as the matrix for this study due to its rapid and non-invasive collection process. In the design strategy of an LFA test, the use of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with strong optical properties has been combined with the advantages of selecting aptamers under in vitro conditions, making it a highly specific and stable recognition probe for the detection of small molecules in saliva. The developed aptamer-based LFA in a competitive format, was able to detect COC and MET in synthetic saliva at concentrations as low as 5.0 ng/mL. After analytical performance studies, the test system also detected COC and MET in real patient samples, which was verified by chromatographic methods.

An Introduction to Testing for Drugs of Abuse An Introduction to Testing for Drugs of Abuse presents a distilled set of facts about the major drugs of abuse that are encountered in clinical practice. Individual chapters highlight the similarities in chemical structure, mechanism of action, and physiologic effects of each drug group, as well as their metabolism, therapeutic uses and potential for misuse or abuse. Special attention is given to the testing process, with an emphasis on interpretation of test results. Informative and entertaining cases appear at the end of each chapter. These cases illustrate the many situations in which drug testing is performed for medical, legal and employment purposes. Written in clear, concise language, this book provides practical guidance to pathologists, clinical chemists and technologists who are responsible for reporting and interpreting the results of drug analyses. It will be especially useful to residents and students who are learning about toxicology for the first time. Clinical practitioners doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other health care professionals will find the information they need to order and interpret drug tests accurately.

Background and Aim: Benzodiazepines (BZD) are widely prescribed to substance users. However, the nonmedical use of prescription BZD often leads to abuse and dependence. Therefore, it is important to detect BZD among substance users seeking treatment. The aim of the present study was to develop an efficient method for testing BZD on dried urine spot (DUS) and evaluating its clinical applicability. Methods: This involved optimization of conditions for the detection, recovery, and stability of BZD from dried urine, spotted on filter paper. Enzyme linked immuno-sorbent assay was used for screening whereas confirmation was done by gas chromatography. For clinical applicability, urine samples of BZD users were tested. Results: The recovery was found to be 99.7% in de-ionized water from 20 μl spotted urine samples. Limit of detection, inter-day and intra-day CV were found to be 100 ng/ml, 4.22% and 3.83%, respectively. BZD were found stable in DUS for 3 weeks at room temperature, and for 3 months at 4°C and −20°C. All the urine samples of benzodiazepine users were found positive by conventional method as well as the DUS method. Conclusion: DUS method proved to be efficient for BZD testing with advantages of ease of collection, transportation, minimal invasiveness and small sample volume. It offers a useful alternative for BZD testing especially in developing countries where logistics of sample collection and transportation could be an important concern.

In Switzerland, only cannabis with a total Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content higher than 1% is controlled by the narcotics legislation. Cannabis products rich in cannabidiol (CBD) and low in THC can be legally sold as tobacco substitutes. In this paper, we address analytical and forensic toxicological issues related to the increasing availability and consumption of these products. Based on the analysis of 531 confiscated cannabis samples, we could establish classification thresholds: plant material with a ratio of total THC/total CBD ≥ 3 is graded as THC-rich/CBD-poor, whereas samples with a ratio ≤ 0.33 are categorized as CBD-rich/THC-poor cannabis. We also evaluated an on-site test kit as a rapid alternative to the laborious liquid or gas chromatography (LC or GC)-based techniques normally used for the differentiation between THC- and CBD-cannabis. Furthermore, we determined whole blood and urine cannabinoid levels after smoking different doses of legal CBD-cannabis. A male volunteer smoked one cigarette within 15 min and four cigarettes within 1 h and within 30 min, respectively. Cigarettes contained on average 42.7 mg CBD and 2.2 mg THC. Blood samples were collected up to 1.1 h and urine samples up to 27.3 h after the beginning of smoking. All urine samples tested negative by three immunochemical assays for detection of cannabis use. This is an important finding for abstinence monitoring. However, we found that the trace amounts of THC present in CBD-cannabis can produce THC blood levels above the Swiss legal limit for driving, and thus render the consumer unable to drive from a legal point of view.

Frontiers in Clinical Drug Research – Anti infectives is a book series that brings updated reviews to readers interested in learning about advances in the development of pharmaceutical agents for the treatment of infectious diseases. The scope of the book series covers a range of topics including the chemistry, pharmacology, molecular biology and biochemistry of natural and synthetic drugs employed in the treatment of infectious diseases. Reviews in this series also include research on multi drug resistance and pre-clinical / clinical findings on novel antibiotics, vaccines, antifungal agents and antitubercular agents. Frontiers in Clinical Drug Research – Anti infectives is a valuable resource for pharmaceutical scientists and postgraduate students seeking updated and critically important information for developing clinical trials and devising research plans in the field of anti infective drug discovery and epidemiology. The sixth volume of this series features these interesting reviews: - Direct-acting antiviral drugs for treatment of Hepatitis C virus infection - Plant lattices as anti-infective compounds - Antimicrobial materials and devices for biomedical applications - Recent advances in the treatment of toxoplasmosis - Antimicrobial immunoglobulin prophylaxis and therapy - Targeting Magnesium Homeostasis as Potential Anti-Infective Strategy Against Mycobacteria

New designer drugs, access to databases, and changing availability of samples for analysis have changed the face of modern forensic toxicology in recent years. Forensic Toxicology: Drug Use and Misuse brings together the latest information direct from experts in each sub-field of the discipline providing a broad overview of current thinking and the most innovative approaches to case studies.The text begins with an in-depth discussion of pharmaco­epidemiology, including information on the value of nationwide databases in forensic toxicology. The use and abuse of drugs in driving, sport and the workplace are then discussed by industry experts who are conducting case work in their field. Not only are new drug groups discussed (NPS), but also their constantly changing impact on drug legislation. Synthetic cannabinoids, khat and mephodrone are discussed in detail. Following a section devoted to legislation and defence, readers will find comprehensive chapters covering sample choice reflecting the increasing use of hair and oral fluid, and also the less commonly used sweat and nail analysis. New and old case examples are compared and contrasted in the final part of the book, which will enable readers to understand how drugs impact on each other and how the interpretative outcome of a case are dependent on many aspects.From use of pharmaceutical drugs in a clinical setting, through smart drugs to new psychoactive drugs, this book documents the wide range in which drugs today are abused. This book will be an essential resource for postgraduate students in forensic toxicology, and for researchers in forensic toxicology laboratories who need the latest data and knowledge.

\"Kamila Valieva is free to skate still at the Games, despite a positive drug test. The Russian skater was apparently taking the drug trimetazidine (TMZ), which is used to treat the heart condition angina (chest pain resulting from too little blood flowing to the heart) at the time of the Russian national championships, in December 2021. She tested positive for the drug at the time, but the results of that test were only recently released.\" (Social Studies for Kids) Read more about Olympic drug tests and what consequences Olympic athletes face.