Nadia De Giovanni,Vincenzo Lorenzo Pascali,Sonia Giacometti, Nadia Fucci
Background: synthetic cannabinoids (SC) have become a more recently abused cannabimimetic drugs; their abuse is an ongoing health issue worldwide. They are rarely detected in urine which is the most common matrix employed in workplace drug testing. Methods: this technical note refers to the investigators experience with Randox (DOA V Synthetic Cannabinoids panel Biochip Array Technology) and Concateno (Drug Screen test) immunoassays for SC, 50 authentic and anonymous urine samples were collected and analyzed from workers. Drug free urine samples to which SC were added showed the expected results in term of the declared cross reactivity’s. Results: Two urine samples obtained from workers showed positive results with Randox DOA V kit for phenyliperazines, the same urine specimens were negative with Concateno kit, which doesn’t include phenylpiperazines in the analytes panel. Additionally Concateno immunoassay found five positive samples for SC not revealed by Randox kit. Conclusion: The current paper discusses problems to be addressed before a routine investigation for SC is conducted, because immunochemical techniques are really useful only when standards, metabolites and confirmation techniques are available and well standardized.
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