A Retrospective Metabolomics Analysis of Gamma-Hydroxybutyrate in Humans: New Potential Markers and Changes in Metabolism Related to GHB Consumption.

ABSTRACT: GHB is an endogenous short-chain organic acid presumably also widely applied as a rape and knock out drug in cases of drug-facilitated crimes or sexual assaults (DFSA). Due to the endogenous nature of GHB and its fast metabolism in vivo, the detection window of exogenous GHB is however narrow, making it challenging to prove use of GHB in DFSA cases. Alternative markers of GHB intake have recently appeared though none has hitherto been validated for forensic use. UHPLC-HRMS based screening of blood samples for drugs of abuse is routinely performed in several forensic laboratories which leaves an enormous amount of unexploited data. Recently we devised a novel metabolomics approach to use archived data from such routine screenings for elucidating both direct metabolites from exogenous

SUBMITTER: Wang T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8927817 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature