Ricerc@Sapienza

The consumption of psychoactive substances is increasing worldwide and remains an important social concern, both for consumers and for non-users potentially in contact with users, for example while driving or in the workplaces. Urine is the matrix of choice for workplace testing and mass spectrometry coupled with separation techniques, especially liquid chromatography (LC-MS/MS) is commonly used for detection, however sample preparation is still the main bottleneck.
The major goal of our proposed research is to develop innovative miniaturized approaches for the detection and quantification of traditional illicit drugs and novel psychoactive substances (NPS) in biological samples to be used in LC-MS/MS drug testing methods. The project involves the use of gel materials, traditionally used in the cultural heritage field, to obtain an efficient extraction of the analytes of interest alongside with a desirable clean-up of the complex matrix under investigation. The novel approach developed will be based on liquid phase microextraction (LPME) with the solvent being immobilized within the pores of the studied gels. Different geometries and configurations will be explored, also involving the use of stirring magnetic bars and the incorporation of the extracting devices in 96 well plate systems for high-throughput applications. The possibility of applying the novel extraction technique on dried urine spot (DUS) will be also explored; several advantages would be obtained by this approach such as reduction of sample volume, ease of sample collection, ease of transportation and storage.
The developed method(s) will be validated and applied to the analysis of psychoactive substances in the urine samples of workers provided by the Centre for Occupational Medicine (CMO). The obtained results may help to have a closer overview of the real diffusion of traditional illicit drugs and NPS, which are normally not included in toxicological methods, among worker populations.