SOFT/TIAFT 98 - Buprenorphine, Norbuprenorphine and Melanin in Human Hair

SOFT - TIAFT 1998

Poster Session 1

Wednesday October 7, 1998

BUPRENORPHINE, NORBUPRENORPHINE AND MELANIN IN HUMAN HAIR

Diana Wilkins, Matthew Slawson, Angelique Valdez, Conrad Sison*, Alice Huber*, Walter Ling* and Douglas Rollins

Center for Human Toxicology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
* Friends Research Institute, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Hair analysis may be a useful tool for monitoring therapeutic compliance in drug treatment programs. The purpose of this study is to determine whether hair can be used as an adjunct specimen to plasma and urine for the monitoring of BUP treatment compliance. Subjects (n = 32) initiating buprenorphine (BUP) treatment were randomly assigned in a double-dummy, double-blind design to one of two treatment conditions: 8-mg oral liquid or 16-mg tablet once daily. Subjects were maintained on the assigned dose for 4 weeks; doses were then increased at 4 week intervals for up to 16 weeks. Hair and plasma were collected weekly and urine collected three times weekly. Questionnaires were administered weekly to document the occurrence of hair cuts and chemical treatments. BUP and norbuprenorphine (NBUP) concentrations in weekly hair and plasma were measured by LC/MS/MS. Urine specimens were analyzed by radioimmunoassay. Eumelanin (EU) and pheomelanin (PHEO) concentrations were measured in hair specimens from weeks 1 and 16 by UV spectro-photometry and HPLC. Preliminary data for the first four subjects who have completed the entire study are presented.

For the first subject, hair concentrations of BUP ranged from 4.5 (3 weeks) to 45.5 pg/mg (16 weeks). Hair concentrations of NBUP ranged from 4.8 (5 weeks) to 54.5 pg/mg (16 weeks). For the second subject, hair concentrations of BUP ranged from 5.3 (3 weeks) to 16.1 pg/mg (16 weeks); NBUP ranged from 20.8 (3 weeks) to 153.4 pg/mg (16 weeks). For the third subject, hair concentrations of BUP ranged from 17.8 (5 weeks) to 113.6 pg/mg (16 weeks); NBUP ranged from 67.7 (3 weeks) to 884.0 pg/mg (16 weeks). For the fourth subject, hair concentrations of BUP ranged from 8.1 (4 weeks) to 156.8 pg/mg (16 weeks); NBUP ranged from 43.7 (4 weeks) to 1438.5 pg/mg (16 weeks). Hair concentrations of BUP and NBUP were variable during a detoxification period (>16 weeks) in all subjects. EU concentrations ranged from 3.1 to 9.9 µg/mg for the four subjects and were consistent with histories of chemical treatments.

Measured hair concentrations of BUP and NBUP varied considerably between subjects. However, a gradual trend of increasing hair concentrations over time with increasing dose was observed for any single subject. These data demonstrate that hair may be a useful adjunct specimen to plasma and urine for the monitoring of BUP treatment compliance.

This study was supported by NIDA Grant No. DA09096.

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