Urine Mescaline Screening With a Biochip Array Immunoassay and Quantification by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry.

Mescaline, the primary psychoactive chemical in peyote cactus, has been consumed for thousands of years in ancient religious ceremonies. The US military wanted to determine if mescaline intake was a problem for personnel readiness. Twenty thousand seventeen urine specimens negative for cannabinoids, cocaine, opiates, and amphetamines were tested for mescaline with the Randox Drugs of Abuse V (DOA-V) biochip array immunoassay at the manufacturer's recommended cutoff of 6 mcg/L. A sensitive and specific method for mescaline quantification in urine was developed and fully validated. Extracted analytes were derivatized with pentafluoropropionic anhydride and pentafluoropropanol and quantified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) with electron impact ionization. Standard curves, using linear least squares regression with 1/x weighting, were linear from 1 to 250 mcg/L with coefficients of determination >0.994. Intra- and inter-assay imprecision was <4.4 coefficient of variation (%CV), with accuracies >90.4%. Mean extraction efficiencies were >92.0% across the linear range. This fully validated method was applied for the confirmation of urinary mescaline in 526 presumptive-positive specimens and 198 randomly selected presumptive-negative specimens at the manufacturer's 6 mcg/L cutoff. No specimen confirmed positive at the GC/MS limit of quantification of 1 mcg/L. Results indicated that during this time frame, there was insufficient mescaline drug use in the military to warrant routine screening in the drug testing program. However, mescaline stability, although assessed, could have contributed to lower prevalence. We also present a validated GC/MS method for mescaline quantification in urine for reliable confirmation of suspected mescaline intake.

Development and clinical application of an LC-MS-MS method for mescaline in urine.

Mescaline (3,4,5-trimethoxyphenylethylamine) is an hallucinogenic psychoactive substance present in several species of cacti. Mescaline has a documented use dating back 5700 years. In more recent years, the interest in hallucinogenic designer drugs such as ecstasy has also triggered interest in the naturally occurring mescaline. This study was undertaken to develop a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) method for the screening and confirmation of mescaline in human urine samples and to apply this method to routine testing in patient samples. For the screening procedure, chromatographic separation was achieved on a 5-microm HyPURITY C(18) column, using a methanol gradient in ammonium acetate buffer. The MS-MS analysis was performed using selected reaction monitoring; the transitions monitored were m/z 212.3 --> m/z 180.3 for mescaline and m/z 221.3 --> m/z 186.3 for the deuterated internal standard (mescaline-d(9)). The detection limit for mescaline in urine matrix was 3-5 microg/L, the upper limit of quantification was 10,000 microg/L, and the total coefficient of variation for spiked samples containing 10 to 1025 microg/L was < 8.5%. The confirmation procedure included a sample clean-up by solid-phase extraction on a C(18) cartridge, and one extra transition for mescaline (m/z 212.3 --> m/z 195.2) was monitored. The LC-MS-MS method was found to be sensitive and specific for the routine detection of mescaline in urine. Among 462 urine samples collected from young people with alcohol or drug problems, 32% were positive for illicit drugs, but none for mescaline.

Determination of psychotropic phenylalkylamine derivatives in biological matrices by high-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode-array detection.

Several procedures using high-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode-array detection have been developed to create phytochemical and toxicological profiles of phenylalkylamine derivatives in biological samples (e.g. plant materials and urine). Mescaline-containing cactus samples were extracted with basic methanol, using methoxamine as internal standard; the extraction and clean-up of urine samples were performed on cation-exchange solid-phase extraction columns. The extracts were separated on a 3-micron ODS column with acetonitrile-water-phosphoric acid-hexylamine as the mobile phase. Peak detection was performed at 198 or 205 nm; peak identity and homogeneity were ascertained by on-line scanning of the UV spectra from 190 to 300 nm. The detection limit of phenylalkylamine derivatives in urine and cactus material was 0.026-0.056 micrograms/ml and 0.04 micrograms/mg, respectively. Following a single oral dose of 1.7 mg/kg methylenedioxymethylamphetamine (MDMA) the concentrations found in urine ranged from 1.48 to 5.05 micrograms/ml MDMA and 0.07-0.90 micrograms/ml methylenedioxyamphetamine (a metabolite of MDMA). The mescaline content of the cactus Trichocereus pachanoi varied between 1.09 and 23.75 micrograms/mg.

A mescaline associated fatality.

The death of an individual under the influence of mescaline is presented. Concentrations of the drug were 9.7, 70.8, and 1163 micrograms/mL or micrograms/g in blood, liver, and urine respectively.

3,4,5-Trimethoxybenzoic acid, a new mescaline metabolite in humans.

After ingestion of 400 mg of mescaline sulfate by human volunteers, 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoic acid was isolated from urine and identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The amount of this anionic mescaline metabolite was found to be very low as compared with that of the well-konwn 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenylacetic acid. The significance of this finding is discussed.