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GHB-O-β-glucuronide in blood and urine is not a suitable tool for the extension of the detection window after GHB intake

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Abstract

Because of its small detection window, uncovering drug-facilitated crime after gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) intake remains a problem. The aim of this experiment was to determine endogenous concentrations of GHB and GHB-O-β-glucuronide (GHB-Gluc) in plasma and urine samples and to compare them with concentrations after GHB intake in humans. Plasma and urine samples of volunteers (n = 50) who had never taken GHB during their lifetime (control group) were collected, and endogenous concentrations of GHB and GHB-Gluc were determined. In addition, plasma and urine samples of patients (n = 3) therapeutically taking sodium oxybate (GHB-sodium salt) were collected prior to and at different time points after the intake. GHB was determined via a liquid chromatography (LC)–tandem mass spectrometry system operated in multiple reaction monitoring mode. GHB-Gluc was detected by LC–quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. In plasma and urine samples of the control group (n = 50), endogenous concentrations of GHB-Gluc ranged from 0.011 to 0.067 mg/L and from 0.16 to 7.1 mg/L, respectively, while unconjugated GHB concentrations were less than 2 mg/L in both matrices. In contrast, after sodium oxybate administration, GHB concentrations increased markedly, and fell to below the commonly used cutoff value (plasma 4 mg/L and urine 10 mg/L) after 6–8 h in all patients. GHB-Gluc concentrations showed no significant time-dependent increase in plasma samples. In urine, GHB-Gluc concentrations increased after GHB intake, but were generally not higher than the endogenous concentrations of the control group. Therefore, it can be concluded that GHB-Gluc concentrations are not a suitable marker for extending the detection window after GHB intake.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Ms. Alexandra Maas for making sample collection possible, Dr. Daniel Sejer Pedersen for providing the internal standard, and all volunteers for taking part in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Forensic Medicine, University Hospital, University of Bonn, Stiftsplatz 12, 53111, Bonn, Germany

    Lena-Maria Mehling, Burkhard Madea & Cornelius Hess

  2. Center for Preventive Doping Research, Institute of Biochemistry, German Sport University Cologne, Cologne, Germany

    Thomas Piper & Mario Thevis

  3. Department of Neurology, University Hospital, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

    Annika Spottke

  4. Division of Sleep Medicine and Neuromuscular Disorders, Department of Neurology, University Hospital, University of Münster, Münster, Germany

    Anna Heidbreder & Peter Young

Authors
  1. Lena-Maria Mehling
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Correspondence to Lena-Maria Mehling or Cornelius Hess.

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Ethical approval

All procedures performed in this study involving human participants, who provided small amounts of blood and urine, were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional review board of the universities of Bonn and Münster and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Mehling, LM., Piper, T., Spottke, A. et al. GHB-O-β-glucuronide in blood and urine is not a suitable tool for the extension of the detection window after GHB intake. Forensic Toxicol 35, 263–274 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11419-016-0352-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11419-016-0352-7

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