UCT ZSDAU020 Columns Cited in Methamphetamine Primate Study
Amphetamine-type stimulants, including methamphetamine, are the world’s second most commonly used illicit drug (surpassed only by marijuana), with at least 30 million people using it regularly. Abuse of this compound is linked to brain abnormalities, where peripheral effects of the drug constitute an integral aspect of long-term methamphetamine use. To gain a better toxilogical understanding of the long-term effects of these compounds, forensic toxicologists often relate their data to that generated from animal studies.
In a recent paper published by D.V.Vaupel et al working with the scientists at National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) led by Prof. Dr. Huestsis published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence(http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2015.12.008), UCT’s flagship sorbent Clean Screen®DAU (ZSDAU020) was employed to extract and analyze methamphetamine from the whole blood of eight male rhesus monkeys. In this study, the drug was isolated/purified on the ZSDAU020, derivatized with a fluoracyl agent and analyzed by GC-MS. It was concluded that enhanced cardiovascular effects may occur after prolonged abstinence in addicts relapsing to methamphetamine and may underlie clinically reported acute cardiotoxic events. This study shows that when in the area of forensic toxicological drug analysis and interpretation, scientists turn to UCT Inc for high quality, reproducible sample preperation consumables.
