A Rapid and Sensitive Method for Determina-tion of Morphine in Saliva of Opium Addicts

Background: Saliva is an alternative biological matrix in drug testing. It has several advantages in comparison with other biological fluids such as blood and urine. Collection of saliva is simple, noninvasive and can be controlled under direct observation in drug abusers, or opium addicts. Methods: In the present study we report our experience with saliva collection, liquid-liquid extraction and quali-quantitation of morphine abuse. The GC-MS method was applied to the analysis and determination of morphine in saliva samples obtained from addicted persons. Results: LOD of the method was 1ng/ml and LOQ 5 ng/ml, with acceptable within-and between-day reproducibility and a linearity (r2=0.998) over a concentration range from 5 to 500ng/ml. Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that saliva may have potential use for identification of patients suspected to drug abuse.Iran J Med Sci 2006; 31(4): 213-215. Keywords ● Morphine ● saliva ● GC-MS ● detection