SOFT/TIAFT 98 - Saliva and Plasma Testing for Drugs of Abuse II: ...

SOFT - TIAFT 1998

Poster Session 1

Wednesday October 7, 1998

SALIVA AND PLASMA TESTING FOR DRUGS OF ABUSE II: A COMPARISON OF PHARMACOLOGICAL EFFECTS AND DISPOSITION OF CODEINE

Jonathan M. Oyler, Abraham T. Wtsadik, Edward J. Cone and Robert E. Joseph, Jr.

Addiction Research Center, IRP, NIDA, NIH, Baltimore, MD, USA

This report describes the pharmacological effects and disposition of codeine (COD) and metabolites in plasma and saliva following oral administrations of low (60 mg/70 kg) and high (120 mg/70 kg) doses of COD sulfate gel capsules to three human volunteers. Pharmacological measures (pupil diameter, heart rate, "Liking," and "High") and blood specimens were collected concurrently. Saliva production was stimulated with hard candy containing citric acid. Plasma and saliva were analyzed by solid phase extraction followed by GC-MS for COD and metabolites. Mean COD concentrations ± S.E.M. are listed below:

Time post dose	COD sulfate (60 mg/70 kg)		COD sulfate (120 mg/70 kg)
	ng/mL saliva	ng/mL plasma	ng/mL saliva	ng/mL plasma
5 min	0	0	0	0
10 min	3 ± 3	0	0	0
15 min	58 ± 59	2 ± 2	0	4 ± 4
30 min	251 ± 235	59 ± 22	148 ± 69	116 ± 67
1 h	432 ± 98	155 ± 71	608 ± 153	241 ± 133
2 h	312 ± 212	87 ± 21	604 ± 396	260 ± 55
4 h	129 ± 34	42 ± 18	424 ± 218	155 ± 53
8 h	61 ± 19	11 ± 9	127 ± 48	37 ± 8
23.75 h	5 ± 6	1 ± 1	4 ± 5	3 ± 1

Norcodeine was detected in plasma and saliva at concentrations generally less than 10% of COD, and morphine was not detected. Peak changes in pupil diameter, "Liking," and "High" typically occurred following peak codeine concentrations in saliva and plasma. These data indicate that saliva codeine concentrations are closely related to plasma concentrations. Consequently, saliva could serve as a useful non-invasive alternative matrix for drug testing.

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