036 - Comparison between Rapid Immunometric and Gas Chromatographic-Mass Spectrometry methods for the detection of illicit drugs in hair: evaluation of operative and economic parameters
Autor(s): A. Colatutto, G.M. Guarrera, G. Zumerle, L. De Luca, P. Sala
Issue: RIMeL - IJLaM, Vol. 6, N. 1, 2010 (MAF Servizi srl ed.)
Page(s): 36-45
Background: The increase of drug testing in conventional and alternative matrices and the related increased work-load for the toxicology laboratory has been the subject of intense research and debate. The aim of our study is to compare the performance of two analytical methods for the detection of illicit drugs in hair: Rapid Immunometric Method (DRI) versus the gold standard method, gas chromatography-massspectrometry (GC-MS). We evaluated the analytical, diagnostic and economic performance of these techniques. Methods: A total of 123 hair samples were analysed with the two technologies. Hair samples were first analysed by the immunometric method, then by the gas chromatography/mass spectrometry technique (GC-MS). Results: Both methods give good analytical performance and achieve similar results. Based on our results, the immunometric method proved to be effective for therapid and simultaneous detection in hair of several abused drugs and was cheaper to execute than the GC-MS method. Conclusions: In recent years, with new legal requirements adopted by many Western governments, toxicology laboratories have moved to new methods to detect drugs in new matrices. The immunometric method for hair drug testing may be considered as a suitable alternative to conventional laboratory testing with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.The diagnostic efficiency of the immunometric methodw as compared to the standard procedure using diagnostic and economic parameters. The immunometric method had high diagnostic sensitivity while the GC/MS /MS method had high specificity. Therefore, we suggest the immunometric test for screening, followed by a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry test for positive or borderline samples. Key-words: Drugs of Abuse, Hair Testing, Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry, Immunometric Scre-ening, Technology Assessment.