Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
AZLTK&LAB EXPO 2024, Baku, Azerbaycan, 2 - 04 Mayıs 2024, ss.188
Background/aim
Blood substance analysis is particularly valuable in forensic toxicology as it provides reliable evidence of drug influence without risk of tampering. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of substance use and identify the most detected substances in blood from drivers suspected of driving under the influence of drugs in the past year.
Methods
A total of 327 blood samples admitted to the laboratory for drug analyses were included and analyzed on the SCIEX Triple Quad 5500+ QTRAP liquid chromatography-mass spectrometer (LC-MS/MS). A total of 90 substances were screened. For positive samples, demographic data, detected substances and their blood levels were recorded.
Results
The study involved individuals aged 12 to 77 years, with 24 (7.3%) females and 303 (92.7%) males. Of these, 79% (n=259) tested positive for substances (>LOQ), with 62% (n=204) having single substances and 17% (n=55) having multiple substances. Additionally, 21% (n=68) tested negative.
The mean age was 32.6 years (16-58) in the positive group and 33.5 years (range 12-77) in the negative group (p=0.473). Males constituted 95.4% (n=247) of positives and 82.4% (n=56) of negatives (p=0.001).
Amphetamines were the most detected substance (86.1%), followed by cannabis. 13.9% (n=36) of positive samples exceeded the standard five-panel screen, with pregabalin (52.8%) and gabapentin (36.1%) most frequent.
According to the cut-offs determined in the "Driving under the Influence of Drugs, Alcohol, and Medicines (DRIUD)" project, the rate of positive samples above the cut-off varied: amphetamines 88.8% (n=198), cannabis 61.1% (n=22), benzodiazepines 44.4% (n=4), opioids 16.6% (n=3), and cocaine 66.6% (n=2), resulting in an overall rate of 79.2% (n=229).
Conclusion
The present findings emphasize that methamphetamine and amphetamine are the mostly abused substances for drivers and pregabalin and gabapentin are the most accompanying drugs in Kayseri, Turkiye; which may pose a serious threat to traffic safety problem.