Tramadol, Methadone and Benzodiazepines added to Alcoholic Beverages.

AIMS: To search for pharmaceutical additives in illicit alcoholic beverages referred to the laboratory of Legal Medicine Organization in Iran in 2017. METHODS: Hundred beverages were sampled. Ethanol content was determined by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (GC-FID) and then a liquid-liquid extraction combined with reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography equipped with a photodiode array detector (PAD) was employed for the qualitative analysis. The analysis was confirmed using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectroscopy (GC/MS). RESULTS: In 15% either one or more of the following were detected: tramadol, methadone, diazepam, oxazepam, flurazepam and alprazolam. Tramadol was found with highest frequency. CONCLUSIONS: The wide availability of addictive pharmaceutical is leading to fortification of alcoholic beverages on some countries. The addition of such depressant additives should be better known because of the potentially fatal consequences of the combination with ethanol, as well as the potential for adverse effects on behavior.

Comparison of UHPLC and HPLC in benzodiazepines analysis of postmortem samples: a case-control study.

The aim of this study was to compare system efficiency and analysis duration regarding the solvent consumption and system maintenance in high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) and ultra high-pressure liquid chromatography (UHPLC). In a case-control study, standard solutions of 7 benzodiazepines (BZs) and 73 biological samples such as urine, tissue, stomach content, and bile that screened positive for BZs were analyzed by HPLC and UHPLC in laboratory of forensic toxicology during 2012 to 2013. HPLC analysis was performed using a Knauer by 100-5 C-18 column (250 mm × 4.6 mm) and Knauer photodiode array detector (PAD). UHPLC analysis was performed using Knauer PAD detector with cooling autosampler and Eurospher II 100-3 C-18 column (100 mm × 3 mm) and also 2 pumps. The mean retention time, standard deviation, flow rate, and repeatability of analytical results were compared by using 2 methods. Routine runtimes in HPLC and UHPLC took 40 and 15 minutes, respectively. Changes in mobile phase composition of the 2 methods were not required. Flow rate and solvent consumption in UHPLC decreased. Diazepam and flurazepam were detected more frequently in biological samples. In UHPLC, small particle size and short length of column cause effective separation of BZs in a very short time. Reduced flow rate, solvent consumption, and injection volume cause more efficiency and less analysis costs. Thus, in the detection of BZs, UHPLC is an accurate, sensitive, and fast method with less cost of analysis.