Benzoylecgonine

The effect of chronic renal failure on the benzoylecgonine blood level: a case report.[Pubmed:25881815]

Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2015 Jun;36(2):84-7.

Chronic renal failure results in reduced elimination of a variety of substances within the blood, including numerous drugs and their metabolites. This report describes a case of a man who died in jail, after less than 48 hours of being incarcerated, wherein postmortem toxicology testing revealed a blood Benzoylecgonine level of 0.25 mg/L with no cocaine detected, suggesting possible recent cocaine use in jail. Autopsy and investigation revealed severe underlying cardiovascular disease and dialysis-dependent CRF, thus accounting for the elevated Benzoylecgonine levels and allaying concerns that the man obtained and used cocaine in jail.

Rapid detection of cocaine, benzoylecgonine and methylecgonine in fingerprints using surface mass spectrometry.[Pubmed:25977942]

Analyst. 2015 Sep 21;140(18):6254-9.

Latent fingerprints provide a potential route to the secure, high throughput and non-invasive detection of drugs of abuse. In this study we show for the first time that the excreted metabolites of drugs of abuse can be detected in fingerprints using ambient mass spectrometry. Fingerprints and oral fluid were taken from patients attending a drug and alcohol treatment service. Gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to test the oral fluid of patients for the presence of cocaine and Benzoylecgonine. The corresponding fingerprints were analysed using Desorption Electrospray Ionization (DESI) which operates under ambient conditions and Ion Mobility Tandem Mass Spectrometry Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization (MALDI-IMS-MS/MS) and Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS). The detection of cocaine, Benzoylecgonine (BZE) and methylecgonine (EME) in latent fingerprints using both DESI and MALDI showed good correlation with oral fluid testing. The sensitivity of SIMS was found to be insufficient for this application. These results provide exciting opportunities for the use of fingerprints as a new sampling medium for secure, non-invasive drug detection. The mass spectrometry techniques used here offer a high level of selectivity and consume only a small area of a single fingerprint, allowing repeat and high throughput analyses of a single sample.

The effects of benzoylecgonine, oxytocin, ritodrine and atosiban on the contractility of myometrium. An experimental study.[Pubmed:22675953]

Clin Exp Obstet Gynecol. 2012;39(1):36-42.

PURPOSE: To investigate the response of pregnant and non pregnant rat myometrium to Benzoylecgonine, a cocaine metabolite, and oxytocin and to investigate the efficiency of ritodrine and atosiban to overcome the effects of Benzoylecgonine and oxytocin. METHODS: Isolation of rat myometrial tissue and recording of contractile activity with isotonic muscle transducer. RESULTS: Benzoylecgonine and oxytocin increase myometrial contractility, while atosiban and ritodrine induce myometrial relaxation. Atosiban was able to revoke the action of oxytocin but not the action of Benzoylecgonine. Ritodrine was able to induce muscle relaxation in both oxytocin and Benzoylecgonine administration. CONCLUSION: Cocaine metabolites seem to act on the myometrium through different pathways compared with oxytocin. After comparing two widely used tocolytic agents: atosiban and ritodrine, it is indicated that only ritodrine, a beta2 adrenergic receptor agonist, can inhibit the action of cocaine metabolites. This finding indicates that the actions of cocaine on adrenergic mechanisms are responsible to a large part for its effects on myometrium contractility. The use of beta2 adrenergic receptor agonists seems to be preferable for the treatment of myometrial contractions induced by cocaine consumption.

A redox proteomic investigation of oxidative stress caused by benzoylecgonine in the freshwater bivalve Dreissena polymorpha.[Pubmed:22991338]

Drug Test Anal. 2013 Aug;5(8):646-56.

Drugs of abuse and their human metabolites have been recently recognized as emerging environmental contaminants. Notwithstanding the fact that these kinds of compounds share some features with pharmaceuticals, their ecotoxicology has not yet been extensively investigated, although some of their characteristics may potentially threaten aquatic ecosystems. One of the most abundant drugs found in rivers and wastewaters is Benzoylecgonine (BE), the main metabolite of cocaine. We applied a redox proteomics approach to evaluate changes in the proteome of Dreissena polymorpha exposed to two different concentrations of BE (0.5 and 1 microg/l). Exposures were performed in vivo for a period of 14 days and the effect of oxidative stress on protein thiol and carbonyl groups in mussel gills were evaluated. One-dimensional electrophoresis did not reveal a reduction in protein thiol content but showed a significant increase of protein carbonylation at both doses tested. Then, protein profiling using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis was performed with subsequent matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) and TOF/TOF with LIFT technique and linear ion trap combined with orbitrap mass spectrometer (LTQ-Orbitrap). This yielded de novo protein sequences suitable for database searching. These preliminary results and protein identifications obtained suggest that BE causes oxidative stress. Oxidative modifications were detected in differing classes of proteins such as those of the cytoskeleton, energetic metabolism and stress response.

Determination of cocaine and its major metabolite benzoylecgonine in several matrices obtained from deceased individuals with presumed drug consumption prior to death.[Pubmed:24661704]

J Forensic Leg Med. 2014 Mar;23:37-43.

In the field of forensic toxicology, femoral blood is the most useful sample for the determination and quantification of drugs; however, cases in which blood is unavailable are common. In such cases, validated methodologies for drug determination in alternative matrices can be decisive in the investigation of a case. In particular, when femoral blood is unavailable for analysis for the presence of systemic exposure to cocaine and its principal metabolite, Benzoylecgonine, validated methodologies from matrices other than blood that can be obtained in the autopsy room would be useful to the forensic toxicologist in the evaluation of a specific forensic case. To address this issue, we implemented and compared in our study the systematic evaluation of extraction, chromatographic separation, and quantification of cocaine and Benzoylecgonine in different biological matrices (right and left cardiac blood, femoral arterial and venous blood, urine, vitreous humor, cerebrospinal fluid, brain accumbens nucleus, brain ventral tegmental area, and liver). The studied matrices were those most likely to be obtained from different autopsy rooms at the time of forensic testing in deceased individuals who are presumed of antemortem drug consumption. Solid phase extraction of analytes from the different matrices was performed using C-8/SCX mixed-phase columns, and gas chromatographic mass spectrometry separation was performed using detection in single-ion monitoring mode. The methodological validation was performed for all the studied matrices, and the results showed similar sensitivity and recoveries without statistical differences between the studied matrices. The methods were applied to evaluate a thanatological case using all the study matrices, showing unequal postmortem distribution of cocaine and Benzoylecgonine throughout the different matrices tested. The present work opens the option of applying appropriate methodologies in the analysis of matrices, other than the usual blood, to obtain reliable results that may help clarify a forensic case. In addition, we present findings from different studies. This work affirms not only the potentiality of obtaining reliable data but also reaffirms the challenge of applying these data and taking into account the complexity of interpreting results in matrices other than blood.