Improving NPS forensic testing with metabolite profiling

The emergence of novel psychoactive substances (NPS) in the recreational drug market poses a growing challenge for the forensic and medical communities worldwide. These synthetic drugs, which are continually evolving in nature and properties, have emerged as potent alternatives to controlled opioids. Often used as adulterants or cutting agents for commonly abused drugs, they raise serious safety concerns for both public health and law enforcement officials. Initial identification of these emerging drugs can be challenging for forensic toxicology laboratories due to the lack of information about their molecular structure and metabolomic pathway. In this context, the use of accurate mass screening workflows with data-independent acquisition (DIA) methods has proven to be a comprehensive tool for the characterization of NPS metabolism.

In this webinar, we will illustrate how to achieve metabolite profiling across various NPS classes using a combined in vitro and in vivo workflow. We will demonstrate how metabolites generated using human liver microsomes can be analyzed via liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-QTOF-MS) to generate in vitro metabolic profiles of various NPS. In this workflow, the characterized metabolites are verified in vivo by analyzing various authentic human biological samples collected after analytically confirmed cases of ingestion and/or overdose.

This novel approach enables the characterization and identification of several phase-I and glucuronide-phase-II NPS metabolites, providing a comprehensive overview of the metabolic profiles of emerging NPS. The resulting insights offer valuable evidence to inform future toxicology analysis and forensic interpretation of cases involving drug use.

Presenter: Marta Massano (PhD student in Sustainable Development and Cooperation (SUSTNET), University of Turin)

Presenter: Alex Krotulski (Associate Director at CFSRE, Program Manager for NPS Discovery, The Center for Forensic Science Research and Education (CFSRE))