Blood concentrations of synthetic cathinones

Abstract

Introduction

Synthetic cathinones are the second most frequently seized group of new psychoactive substances. They are sold as replacements for controlled stimulants such as amphetamine, cocaine and MDMA. Synthetic cathinones are often determined in biological material collected from both living people and fatally intoxicated with these substances. The interpretation of analytical results usually requires a comparison to previously published cases, therefore, a referenced compilation of concentration ranges would be useful.

Material and methods

Data collection was based on a search of PubMed and Google search engine. All the available data from articles where synthetic cathinones concentrations have been measured in whole blood, serum or plasma were included in the data analysis.

Results

Presented table lists the observed concentrations in fatal and non-fatal cases involving 47 synthetic cathinones. A reference list with original papers has been added for each compound, which makes it easy to find the source data.

Conclusion

Conclusions regarding cause of death should be based upon the concentrations and knowledge of the clinical situation. Where there is clinical suspicion of death due to synthetic cathinones, postmortem blood concentrations >1 μg/mL (in person without developed tolerance) can be cautiously considered as lethal concentrations, however the exact ranges cannot be established.

Keywords:

• Synthetic cathinones; new psychoactive substances; blood concentrations
• intoxication; interpretation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).