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westSolid-Phase Micropipette Tip Extraction and Rapid Detection of Fentanyl & Benzylfentanyl in Oral Fluid using Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS)

Jun 6, 2024 15:06 PM - Jun 6, 2024 16:06 PM, Joseph Ta, Chemical Sciences, Section Presentation

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The United States is facing an opioid public health crisis with 100,000+ drug-related overdose deaths. Synthetic opiates like fentanyl contribute to two-thirds of overdose deaths and are likely to increase in the future. Unlike blood and urine, oral fluid is an unconventional toxicological matrix gaining in popularity due to its noninvasiveness, ease of collection, and similar window of detection to blood. Raman and portable methods are favorable because of field use application and inexpensive instrumentation compared to chromatography-mass spectrometric methods. This study examines a novel, inexpensive, sensitive, and quick method of toxicological screening of fentanyl and benzyfentanyl in oral fluid. Two focuses in this study are examined: extraction of fentanyl analytes from fortified oral fluid and the detection using Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS). The fortified oral fluid was prepared with neat oral fluid and fortification with fentanyl standards. The solid-phase extraction is performed with an easy-to-use, portable, and commercially available C-18 pipette tip, ZipTip from Millipore. The drug eluent is then detected with an Ag/Au nanostar colloid aggregate solution developed by the McCord Lab and the FDA. The reported LOD from an oral fluid extract of benzylfentanyl and fentanyl were 42 ng/mL and 18 ng/mL respectively. The entire analysis from sample preparation to Raman acquisition can be completed in 30-40 minutes, using a minimal oral fluid volume of 75μL. This study examines a novel method of screening fentanyl in oral fluid and reaches below a LOD threshold of 100 ng/mL, commonly found in real fentanyl user’s oral fluid toxicological samples