UCT Clean Screen® FASt (Filter & Shoot) Cartridge Cited in New Drug (Tianeptine) Case Study

UCT in recognized around the world not only for manufacturing the finest solid phase extraction (SPE) sorbents, but also providing scientific support for clinical and forensic toxicology accounts worldwide. UCT’s FASt (Filter & Shoot) sorbent has recently been utilized in the analysis of the novel pharmaceutical tianeptine in forensic toxicological urine samples by S.K Dempsey et al., in Journal of Analytical Toxicology (doi: 10.1093/jat/bkx034) .

Tianeptine is a tricyclic compound prescribed as an antidepressant in European countries, but is not currently approved as that type of prescription medication in America. In this case study where acute toxicity associated with the intravenous use of tianeptine is detailed, a 36-year-old male intentionally injected tianeptine powder intravenously to “help him see into the future.” He quickly became unresponsive and a bystander called emergency medical services. Upon arrival to the hospital emergency department, it was noted that the subject presented with excessive constriction of the pupils, sedation, and a respiratory rate of 6 respirations per minute (rpm). Blood and urine were collected approximately 2 hours after hospital admission. Due to the initial urine testing reporting negative for common drugs of abuse and tricyclic antidepressants, the sample was then assayed for tianeptine using Clean Screen® FASt and positive pressure.

Analysis of the urine extract was performed using LC-MS/MS after validation of the procedure to quantify tianeptine in urine. The  dynamic  range of the analysis was 1–100 ng/mL, (r² ) of 0.9996 or greater. The limit of quantitation was administratively set at 1 ng/mL. The bias of the assay was determined to be within ±20% of the target value for each quality control specimen. The intra-day and inter-day precision did not exceed 15% coefficient of variation for each quality control specimen. Matrix effects, absolute recovery, carryover and specificity were also evaluated and met laboratory criteria. In this study, the urinary concentration of tianeptine was determined to be 2 ng/mL.  After treatment with naloxone, the  toxicity was reversed and the subject was discharged 13 hours after admittance, awake, alert and oriented. This study demonstrates the efficiency and power of UCT’s FASt cartridge in the development of critical analyses in the field of forensic medicine. For further information on this product line visit  https://sampleprep.unitedchem.com/products/spe/filter-and-shoot/clean-screen-fast.