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326348

THE EFFECT OF SOME ADULTERANTS ON DRUG ABUSE DETECTION BY IMMUNOASSAY TEST STRIPS

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Last updated: 23 Dec 2024

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Abstract

Introduction: The use of immunoassays for drug screening has increased due to their sensitivity towards target analytes. Due to their potential to interfere with drug screening tests and provide false findings, adulterants pose a new challenge in the detection of drug abuse. Objectives: The aim of the current study is to evaluate the effect of some adulterants on the detection of drug abuse in urine tested by immunoassay test strips and the effect of the adulterants on the validity of the results of these tests. Materials and methods: Urine samples tested positive by immunoassay test strips for one of the five abused drugs (tramadol, cannabis, morphine, benzodiazepines (BDZ), and amphetamines) were used. With help of Indiko (thermoscientific fully automated urine enzyme immunoassay), we chose two different concentrations of each drug, the first is just above the cutoff level of test strips, and the other is higher than the double cutoff. Four adulterants (vinegar, bleach, Visine eye drops, and water) were tested for their ability to generate false negative results for the chromatographic immunoassay test strips. Each adulterant was added to a urine sample containing 1 of 5 different drugs at fixed concentrations. Adulterants were also added to negative control samples to reveal how integrity criteria (pH and specific gravity (SG) were affected. Results: out of the 4 adulterants, vinegar generated the most false negatives. Bleach turned both low and high concentrations of positive cannabis samples into negative ones. Visine eye drops masked the positivity of the low-concentration cannabis sample. Water was effective in concealing the positivity of the low-concentration BDZ sample. Conclusion: A positive urine sample that includes drugs may nevertheless be examined and declared "clean and free of drugs" after passing a routine screening procedure. We recommend that drug screening tests be frequently combined with adulterant test strips to guarantee that the integrity of the specimen has not been compromised before drug testing.

DOI

10.21608/ejfsat.2023.222248.1296

Keywords

Adulteration, Drug abuse, urine immunoassay test strips

Authors

First Name

Reham

Last Name

El-Farouny

MiddleName

Hassan

Affiliation

Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University

Email

dr_reham2004@yahoo.com

City

Cairo

Orcid

0000-0002-0747-6760

First Name

heba allah

Last Name

mabrouk

MiddleName

ali

Affiliation

Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology Department, Faculty of Medicine, kafrelsheikh university

Email

hebamabrouk2@med.kfs.edu.eg

City

Cairo

Orcid

-

First Name

nagwa

Last Name

habib

MiddleName

H

Affiliation

Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University

Email

nagwahabib@med.menofia.edu

City

Cairo

Orcid

-

Volume

23

Article Issue

4

Related Issue

44393

Issue Date

2023-12-01

Receive Date

2023-07-24

Publish Date

2023-12-01

Page Start

13

Page End

28

Print ISSN

1687-0875

Online ISSN

2535-1915

Link

https://ejfsat.journals.ekb.eg/article_326348.html

Detail API

https://ejfsat.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=326348

Order

326,348

Type

Original Article

Type Code

429

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

The Egyptian Journal of Forensic Sciences and Applied Toxicology

Publication Link

https://ejfsat.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

THE EFFECT OF SOME ADULTERANTS ON DRUG ABUSE DETECTION BY IMMUNOASSAY TEST STRIPS

Details

Type

Article

Created At

23 Dec 2024