Urinary screening for adinazolam and its major metabolites by the Emit d.a.u. and FPIA benzodiazepine assays with confirmation by HPLC

J Anal Toxicol. 1993 Nov-Dec;17(7):427-31. doi: 10.1093/jat/17.7.427.

Abstract

Adinazolam is a triazolobenzodiazepine, currently under clinical investigation, that possesses antidepressant and anxiolytic activity. It has a short half-life (less than 3 h), and less than 2% of an oral dose is excreted unchanged. The major urinary metabolite is N-desmethyladinazolam, and minor metabolites are estazolam and alpha-OH-alprazolam. The objective of this study was to characterize the reactivity of adinazolam, N-desmethyladinazolam, and estazolam in the Emit d.a.u. benzodiazepine assay and the Abbott TDx urine (FPIA) benzodiazepine assay. N-desmethyladinazolam and estazolam gave an equivalent response to the Emit cutoff calibrator (300 ng/mL) at 100-200 ng/mL, and adinazolam gave an equivalent response at 200 ng/mL. By FPIA, N-desmethyladinazolam and adinazolam had equivalent net polarization values as the 300-ng/mL low control at 500-1000 ng/mL, and estazolam gave a positive response at 300 ng/mL. Six volunteers received single oral doses of 10, 30, and 50 mg of adinazolam. Urine specimens (N = 7) were collected from 0 to 36 h post-administration. By Emit, all urine specimens at all doses were positive from 2 to 36 h, and all FPIA analyzed specimens were positive from 2 to 24 h. Confirmation testing was performed by HPLC by analyzing for N-desmethyladinazolam. All urine specimens were confirmed positive for N-desmethyladinazolam (greater than 200 ng/mL) except for the blank specimens (time = 0) and 7 of 18 specimens collected 36 h post-administration. In conclusion, both immunoassay screening assays are acceptable for detecting the presence of adinazolam in human urine for up to 24 h after a single oral dose of 10-50 mg.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Alprazolam / analogs & derivatives
  • Alprazolam / urine
  • Anti-Anxiety Agents*
  • Benzodiazepines / urine*
  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
  • Disaccharides
  • Estazolam / urine
  • Fluorescent Antibody Technique
  • Glucuronates
  • Humans
  • Immunoassay / methods*
  • Immunoenzyme Techniques
  • Toxicology / methods

Substances

  • Anti-Anxiety Agents
  • Disaccharides
  • Glucuronates
  • Benzodiazepines
  • Estazolam
  • alpha-hydroxyalprazolam
  • O-(glucuronic acid 2-sulfate)-(1--4)-O-(2,5)-anhydromannitol 6-sulfate
  • adinazolam
  • mono-N-demethyladinazolam
  • Alprazolam