The detection of new designer drugs is often a difficult issue in forensic urine drug testing as immunoassays are the primary screening methodology for drugs of abuse in many of these laboratories. Cross-reactivity of compounds with immunoassay kits can either aid or complicate the detection of a variety of drug and drug metabolites. For instance, emerging designer drugs that share structural s...

USE OF d-AMPHETAMINE AND RELATED CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM STIMULANTS IN CHILDREN T HE abuse of amphetamines has become a problem of international significance. Japan was the first country to recognize this problem, and by 1954 there were an estimated 500,000 to 600,000 abusers in Japan. More than ten years ago Japan banned the use of amphetamines. The United Kingdom restricted distribution of amp...

Urine drug screens (UDSs) are used to identify the presence of certain medications. One limitation of UDSs is the potential for false-positive results caused by cross-reactivity with other substances. Amphetamines have an extensive list of cross-reacting medications. The literature contains reports of false-positive amphetamine UDSs with multiple antidepressants and antipsychotics. We present 2...

We developed a homogeneous immunoassay method to eliminate false-positive amphetamine results caused by cross-reactive substances, including over-the-counter allergy and cold medications. This method uses a neutralizing antibody that binds to amphetamines but does not bind to the labeled amphetamine conjugate used in the assay. The amount of neutralizing antibody is sufficient to reduce the ass...

OBJECTIVE To review the literature regarding the efficacy of stimulants to treat attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults. DATA SOURCES The relevant pharmaceutical manufacturers were contacted, and searches of MEDLINE (1966-December 2002) and the reference sections of each article obtained were performed using the key search terms: adult ADHD, stimulants, methylphenidate, amp...

OBJECTIVE To compare the rate of drug use prevalence and to investigate opinions regarding such use among undergraduate students at the University of São Paulo--São Paulo campus in 1996 and again in 2001. METHODS Both studies followed the same procedures of sampling and data collection. A random sample of undergraduate students, divided into the areas Humanities, Exact Sciences and Biologic S...

Screening methods based on liquid chromatography (HPLC) and capillary electrophoresis (CE) have been developed for the identification and determination of amphetamine, methamphetamine, 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, and 3,4-methylenedioxyethylamphetamine in illicit tablets. Diethylpropione, (-)-ephedrine, and 3-amino-1-phenylbutane were also included in the st...

The search for pharmacological therapies, which may facilitate the recovery process after a permanent brain injury, has been intensified during the past decade. One of the most extensively studied pharmacological approaches to stimulate recovery after experimental stroke is treatment with amphetamines. Experimental animal studies suggest that treatment with amphetamines improve recovery after f...