SEARCH · Search PubMed
Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Many drugs have been reported to produce an eruption that is clinically and histologically indistinguishable from lichen planus. I report a case of lichenoid drug eruption occurring after crystal methamphetamine abuse. To my knowledge, this is the first report of an illicit drug causing a lichenoid drug eruption.
Large amounts of strychnine were found in the bodies of two drug abusers, presumable as a result of injection of "street drugs" adulterated with strychnine. Current therapeutic research with this drug, if widely accepted into medical practice, may lead to its greater availability and hence an increased poisoning incidence potential.
OBJECTIVE: To identify four kinds of seed-fruit Chinese drugs and its adulterants by electrophoresis and to research the dyeing effect of Coomassie Brilliant Blue G-250. METHOD: Gel electrophoresis of soluble protein. RESULTS: The electrophoretograms of the four kinds of Chinese drugs and its adulterants are remarkably different. CONCLUSION: The electrophoretograms can be used to differentiate the four kinds of Chinese drugs and its adulterants. Coomassie Brilliant Blue G-250 can be used in the electrophoresis identification.
The Elixir Sulfanilamide disaster of 1937 was one of the most consequential mass poisonings of the 20th century. This tragedy occurred shortly after the introduction of sulfanilamide, the first sulfa antimicrobial drug, when diethylene glycol was used as the diluent in the formulation of a liquid preparation of sulfanilamide known as Elixir Sulfanilamide. One hundred five patients died from its therapeutic use. Under the existing drug regulations, premarketing toxicity testing was not required. In reaction to this calamity, the U.S. Congress passed the 1938 Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, which required proof of safety before the release of a new drug. The 1938 law changed the drug focus of the Food and Drug Administration from that of a policing agency primarily concerned with the confiscation of adulterated drugs to a regulatory agency increasingly involved with overseeing the evaluation of new drugs. The Elixir Sulfanilamide tragedy, its effect on drug regulations, and the history of other diethylene glycol and diluent mass poisonings are discussed.
In a study performed at a Stockholm clinic for young people with drug abuse problems, where urine adulteration was suspected to be fairly frequent, a total of 594 patient specimens were subjected to Adultacheck test strip screening for nitrite, glutaraldehyde, pH, and creatinine. Creatinine measurement was also performed at the laboratory, together with drug screening using EMIT reagents, and a subsample was spiked with phencyclidine to verify EMIT test function. The frequency of dilute urine (creatinine < 4 mmol/L) was 11%. Otherwise no evidence of urine adulteration was observed. Thus the Adultacheck strip might be useful in detecting dilute urine specimens already at the clinic, though the test strip levels did not agree well with the respective laboratory results. It was concluded that adulteration of urine specimens was not common at the clinic, and that specimen collection for urine drug testing could be performed in a reliable manner.
Several adulterants are used to mask tests for abused drugs in urine. Adulterants such as "Klear" and "Whizzies" contain potassium nitrite, and "Urine Luck" contains pyridinium chlorochromate (PCC). The presence of these adulterants cannot be detected by routine specimen integrity checks (pH, specific gravity, and temperature). We developed rapid spot tests for detecting these adulterants in urine. Addition of 3% hydrogen peroxide in urine adulterated with PCC caused rapid formation of a dark brown color. In contrast, unadulterated urine turned colorless when hydrogen peroxide was added. When urine contaminated with nitrite and 2 to 3 drops of 2N hydrochloric acid were added to 2% aqueous potassium permanganate solution, the dark pink permanganate solution turned colorless immediately with effervescence. Urine contaminated with nitrite liberated iodine from potassium iodide solution in the presence of 2N hydrochloric acid. Urine adulterated with PCC also liberated iodine from potassium iodide in acid medium but did not turn potassium permanganate solution colorless. Urine specimens from volunteers and random urine samples that tested negative for drugs did not cause false-positive results. These rapid spot tests are useful for detecting adulterated urine to avoid false-negative drug tests.
South America has a large population of small ruminants. Currents estimates are approximately 100 million sheep and 23 million goats. A large percentage of these flocks are raised in the humid tropics/sub-tropics. Nematode parasitism is singly the most important disease of these animals and typically farmers resort to frequent anthelmintic treatment in attempts to control this problem. Because of this reliance on drugs, price consideration is an important determinant in a farmer's choice of anthelmintic. In some circumstances, this has led to unethical practices of drug adulteration and substitution, or the offering to farmers of cheap, sub-standard generic products. The prevalence of anthelmintic resistance has not been investigated in any widespread sense in South America, although some of the first reports of resistance were made in southern Brazil almost 30 years ago. The following series of papers outline surveys conducted in the humid topics/sub-tropics of southern Latin America to assess the significance of resistance to the broad-spectrum anthelmintic groups in nematode parasites of sheep flocks.
X-ray powder diffraction data have been developed or refined for the identification of drugs, excipients, and adulterants found in illicit preparations.
The finding of an eosinophilic aseptic meningitis in IV drug abuse is usually suggestive of an opportunistic infection or an allergic reaction. However, HIV-negative patients are at lower risk for developing these complications. Two young HIV-negative patients, with previous intravenous polytoxicomany, developed cystic arachnoiditis over the spinal cord associated with eosinophilic meningitis. Histology of the meningeal spinal cord lesions revealed a vasculocentric mixed inflammatory reaction. In one patient prednisone led to marked clinical improvement. Since infection, vasculitis, sarcoidosis and previous myelography were ruled out, we believe that the syndrome of eosinophilic aseptic arachnoiditis may be related to an hyperergic reaction in the meniges toward drug-adulterants inoculated through the intravenous route.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Consumers of adulterated drugs may present with talc-induced interstitial lung disease. A transbronchial biopsy specimen showing granulomas with intracellular talc crystals is necessary to confirm this diagnosis. In patients infected with HIV, such a condition can be indistinguishable at first glance from opportunistic infections or other pulmonary diseases. A case is presented of a seropositive patient whose chest radiographs showed a diffuse interstitial pattern.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The active ingredient in the commercial workplace urine drug-testing adulterant, Klear, was previously determined to be nitrite ion. Nitrite adulteration compromises the confirmation of some drugs, notably the marijuana metabolite. A previously reported bisulfite step overcomes some nitrite adulteration, but it cannot do so in every case, which leaves the laboratory to report the specimen as not suitable for testing. Unlike many other adulterants, nitrite is found in normal urine at low concentrations. In order to defend a report of nitrite adulteration, it is necessary to provide evidence that the amount of nitrite in a workplace urine specimen could not arise by normal means. The objectives of this study were to identify all sources of nitrite in urine and the range of concentrations associated with these sources and to determine if nitrite adulteration can be supported based upon a quantitative result. The scientific literature was reviewed for internal and external sources of nitrite and their concentration ranges and are reported. The following specimens were obtained and nitrite concentrations measured by a spectrophotometric method: clinical specimens nitrite positive by test strip (< 15 micrograms/mL); specimens culture positive for nitrate-reducing microorganisms (< 36 micrograms/mL); specimens from patients on medications that may metabolize to nitrite (< 6 micrograms/mL); and drug-test specimens, both negative (< 130 micrograms/mL) and others that appeared to be adulterated with nitrite (range 1910-12,200 micrograms/mL, mean 5910). The literature and the nitrite measurements of this study indicate a substantial difference between concentrations from natural sources compared with adulteration. A quantitative measurement of nitrite by a well-structured assay can provide scientifically valid and forensically defensible proof of adulteration with a nitrite-containing substance.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.