ABSTRACT
The ability to use positive ion monitoring mode with an atmospheric pressure ion mobility time-of-flight mass spectrometer (APIM(tof)MS) to detect psychoactive cathinones and tryptamines from aqueous phase samples was evaluated. The study used a traditional electrospray ionization (ESI) source for sample introduction and ionization. A total of four cathinones (mephedrone, butylone, 4-Me-PPP, and 4-MEC) and five tryptamines (5-EtO-DPT, 5-EtO-DALT, 5-EtO-MIPT, 5-EtO-ALCHT, and 5-EtO-2MALET) were investigated, and we report on parent ions, collision induced dissociation (CID) fragment ions, reduced mobility (Ko), mass flight times, and detection limits obtained from a single instrument run for the psychoactive substances. Detection limits reported ranged from 3 to 11 µM concentration for the compounds studied. This detection limit range corresponded to 1-5 ng of material needed for improved detection on the instrument. This article demonstrates that it was possible to use a single instrument platform for the separation, detection, and identification of cathinones and tryptamines in less than 1 min. The application holds great promise for detecting and identifying a new class of drugs often referred to as "bath salts" or "legal highs" distributed over the Internet.
Subject(s)
Alkaloids/analysis , Central Nervous System Stimulants/analysis , Designer Drugs/analysis , Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization/methods , Tandem Mass Spectrometry/methods , Tryptamines/analysisABSTRACT
We describe a case in which ultrasound-guided fine needle core biopsy of a cervical lymph node enabled diagnosis of dual disease. Histological examination of the core biopsy confirmed unsuspected chronic lymphocytic leukaemia with an isolated focus of metastatic squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and enabled optimal preoperative planning of treatment. Such a case is extremely unusual and provides evidence of the accurate diagnosis that can be obtained from nodal investigations using ultrasound-guided core biopsy.
