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Kronstrand R, Norman C, Vikingsson S, et al. The metabolism of the synthetic cannabinoids ADB-BUTINACA and ADB-4en-PINACA and their detection in forensic toxicology casework and infused papers seized in prisons. Drug Test Anal. 2021;doi: 10.1002/dta.3203.
Kronstrand, R., Norman, C., Vikingsson, S., Biemans, A., Valencia Crespo, B., Edwards, D., Fletcher, D., Gilbert, N., Persson, M., Reid, R., Semenova, O., Al Teneiji, F., Wu, X., Dahlén, J., NicDaéid, N., Tarbah, F., Sutcliffe, O. B., McKenzie, C., & Gréen, H. (2021). The metabolism of the synthetic cannabinoids ADB-BUTINACA and ADB-4en-PINACA and their detection in forensic toxicology casework and infused papers seized in prisons. Drug testing and analysis, . https://doi.org/10.1002/dta.3203
Kronstrand, Robert, et al. "The metabolism of the synthetic cannabinoids ADB-BUTINACA and ADB-4en-PINACA and their detection in forensic toxicology casework and infused papers seized in prisons." Drug testing and analysis vol. (2021). doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/dta.3203
Kronstrand R, Norman C, Vikingsson S, Biemans A, Valencia Crespo B, Edwards D, Fletcher D, Gilbert N, Persson M, Reid R, Semenova O, Al Teneiji F, Wu X, Dahlén J, NicDaéid N, Tarbah F, Sutcliffe OB, McKenzie C, Gréen H. The metabolism of the synthetic cannabinoids ADB-BUTINACA and ADB-4en-PINACA and their detection in forensic toxicology casework and infused papers seized in prisons. Drug Test Anal. 2021 Nov 22; doi: 10.1002/dta.3203. Epub 2021 Nov 22. PMID: 34811926.
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Drug Test Anal. 2021 Nov 22; doi: 10.1002/dta.3203. Epub 2021 Nov 22.

The metabolism of the synthetic cannabinoids ADB-BUTINACA and ADB-4en-PINACA and their detection in forensic toxicology casework and infused papers seized in prisons.

Drug testing and analysis

Robert Kronstrand, Caitlyn Norman, Svante Vikingsson, Anoek Biemans, Bryan Valencia Crespo, Darren Edwards, Daniel Fletcher, Nicolas Gilbert, Mattias Persson, Robert Reid, Olga Semenova, Faisal Al Teneiji, Xiongyu Wu, Johan Dahlén, Niamh NicDaéid, Fuad Tarbah, Oliver B Sutcliffe, Craig McKenzie, Henrik Gréen

Affiliations

  1. Department of Forensic Genetics and Forensic Toxicology, National Board of Forensic Medicine, Linköping, Sweden.
  2. Division of Clinical Chemistry and Pharmacology, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
  3. Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science, School of Science and Engineering, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.
  4. RTI International, Research Triangle, North Carolina, USA.
  5. Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
  6. Drug Discovery Unit, Wellcome Centre for Anti-Infectives Research, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.
  7. BioAscent, Motherwell, UK.
  8. Department of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK.
  9. General Department of Forensic Science and Criminology, Toxicology Department, Dubai Police, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
  10. Chiron AS, Trondheim, Norway.

PMID: 34811926 DOI: 10.1002/dta.3203

Abstract

Early warning systems detect new psychoactive substances (NPS), while dedicated monitoring programs and routine drug and toxicology testing identify fluctuations in prevalence. We report the increasing prevalence of the synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonist (SCRA) ADB-BUTINACA (N-[1-amino-3,3-dimethyl-1-oxobutan-2-yl]-1-butyl-1H-indazole-3-carbox-amide). ADB-BUTINACA was first detected in a seizure in Sweden in 2019, and we report its detection in 13 routine Swedish forensic toxicology cases soon after. In January 2021, ADB-BUTINACA was detected in SCRA-infused papers seized in Scottish prisons and has rapidly increased in prevalence, being detected in 60.4% of the SCRA-infused papers tested between January and July 2021. In this work, ADB-BUTINACA was incubated with human hepatocytes (HHeps), and 21 metabolites were identified in vitro, 14 being detected in authentic case samples. The parent drug and metabolites B9 (mono-hydroxylation on the n-butyl tail) and B16 (mono-hydroxylation on the indazole ring) are recommended biomarkers in blood, while metabolites B4 (dihydrodiol formation on the indazole core), B9, and B16 are suitable biomarkers in urine. ADB-4en-PINACA (N-[1-amino-3,3-dimethyl-1-oxobutan-2-yl]-1-[pent-4-en-1-yl]-1H-indazole-3-carboxamide) was detected in Scottish prisons in December 2020, but, unlike ADB-BUTINACA, prevalence has remained low. ADB-4en-PINACA was incubated with HHeps, and 11 metabolites were identified. Metabolites E3 (dihydrodiol formed in the tail moiety) and E7 (hydroxylation on the linked/head group) are the most abundant metabolites in vitro and are suggested as urinary biomarkers. The in vitro potencies of ADB-BUTINACA (EC

© 2021 The Authors. Drug Testing and Analysis published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Keywords: ADB-4en-PINACA; ADB-BUTINACA; metabolite identification; prisons; synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists

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