Development of a targeted and untargeted dynamic analytical strategy for the detection of new psychoactive substances in Forensic Toxicology

Abstract

The growing emergence of new psychoactive substances (NPS) has been a challenge for responsible institutions by substance control and toxicologist, as new substances are constantly incorporated into the market, being marketed in ways that make it difficult to identify the inspections. NPS can be considering of high risk to public health, since there is an unknowing regarding toxicity, effects, damage and dissemination. In view of this situation, the INSPEQT project was created, which aims to develop strategies for identifying NPS in both the chemical and toxicological fields. However, throughout the project, a disproportionality was observed between the biological samples that are analyzed by the Nucleus of Forensic Toxicology of the Legal Medical Institute of SP and the Center for Information and Toxicological Assistance of Campinas and the seizures of NPS, because several substances have been identified in raw drug, while little has been detected in biological samples. Most NPS determinations in biological material existing in the scientific literature make use of 'targeted' methods, which despite being the ideal approach, they are limited to compounds with reference standards already acquired. However, as these are new drugs, the reference standard is not always commercially available and, when it exists, its acquisition is expensive and requires importation, taking months to reach Brazil. In this away, this doctoral project proposes to develop a dynamic NPS detection strategy using, simultaneously, 'untargeted' and 'targeted' methods to obtain broader information regarding the spread of NPS in Brazil. 'Untargeted' methods going to be based on high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS). 'Targeted' method going to be based on liquid chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). To allow greater agility, home-made standards prepared from NSP seizures by the Narcotics Examination Nucleus of SPTC-SP will be used to constantly update the methodology, allowing the detection of an ever-increasing range of compounds. 'Untargeted' and 'targeted' methods will be developed considering the principles of Green Analytical Toxicology (GAT), which prioritize a less use of toxic organic solvent, greater practicality and speed and lower power consumption. The developed methodologies will be applied in biological sample obtained from Nucleus of Forensic Toxicology of the Legal Medical Institute of SP and from five different regions of Brazil, which will enable a more comprehensive analysis of the spread of NSP across the country.