1Senior Scientific Officer, Centre for Addiction Medicine, Dept. of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Hosur Road, Bangalore, India
2Professor of Psychiatry, Centre for Addiction Medicine, Dept. of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Hosur Road, Bangalore, India
3Junior Scientific Officer, Centre for Addiction Medicine, Dept. of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Hosur Road, Bangalore, India
*Correspondence author: Priyamvada Sharma, PhD, Senior Scientifi c Offi cer, Centre for Addiction Medicine, Dept. of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), P.B.#2900, Hosur Road, Bangalore-560029, India. Email: ps842010@gmail.com; sharmapriyamvada@yahoo.co.in Tel: 91-80-26995274/5360 Fax: 91-80-26564830
Online published on 2 January, 2016.
Opiate abuse is a major problem worldwide. Simple and cost-effective method with quantification capabilities is need of time especially for developing countries. A procedure for simultaneous determination of morphine, codeine, pentazocine and propoxyphenene in urine by High performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) is described. Following enzymatic hydrolysis, urine samples were extracted. Liquid-liquid extraction was carried out with dichloromethane and isopropanol (9: 3) at pH 9. Extracts reconstituted in methanol were analyzed by HPTLC in quantification mode. Limit of quantification (LOQ) was120 μg/ml for morphine and codeine with 20 ml of urine sample. For propoxyphene LOQ was 60 μg/ml and pentazocine 800 μg/ml with 20 ml of urine sample. This study is an attempt to utilize HPTLC for semi-quantification of biological sample. Unavailability of HPTLC inserts forced to take larger urine volume. Software (wincats) inability to save calibration curve resulted in preparation of calibration curve on regular basis.
High performance thin layer chromatography, Liquid-liquid extraction, Opiate abuse
