Screening analysis for designer stimulants by LC-MS/MS

Abstract

The increase in the number of new substances appearing on the drug market has been observed in the 1980s and 1990s of the last century, when many phenethylamine and tryptamine derivatives entered the market. However, the phenomenon of mass marketing of new designer stimulants (being the components of so-called “legal highs”) began to develop since 2006 in Europe, and it was something new. Since then, the number of stimulants introduced on the drug market is growing regularly, rapidly, and intensively. Such a situation creates a need for comprehensive screening methods for detection of these drugs in biological specimens. The fast and simple liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry qualitative screening procedure presented here is designed to detect and identify a wide range of designer stimulants in the blood. The assay has wide applicability for rapid screening of new stimulants in forensic or clinical samples. The procedure can be easily modified for additional novel psychoactive substances.