Etorphine in man. II. Detectability in urine by common screening methods

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Abstract
A single highly euphorogenic dose of etorphine, 100 µg, was administered subcutaneously to 7 nontolerant subjects, and all urine samples were collected for 1 day prior to and 3 days following drug administration. Samples were analyzed for the presence of opiates by radioimmunoassay (Abuscreen) and homogeneous enzyme immunoassay (EMIT), with cutoffs for “positives” of 40 and 500 ng/ml, respectively. Samples were analyzed for etorphine by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) with iodoplatinate preceded by XAD-2 resin extraction (sensitivity = 0.2 µg etorphine/ml of urine) and by gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) preceded by organic solvent extraction and trimethylsilyl derivatization (sensitivity = 0.1 µg etorphine/ml of urine). The last pre-drug and first two post-drug samples were also analyzed after acid hydrolysis by TLC and after glucuronidase hydrolysis by TLC and GLC. No sample gave a “positive” opiate result in either immunoassay, and no etorphine was detected in the TLC and GLC analyses of any urine sample. Thus, it is unlikely that the abuse of etorphine could be diagnosed by urinalysis using the common screening methods of radioimmunoassay, EMIT, TLC preceded by XAD-2 resin extraction, or GLC preceded by organic solvent extraction and trimethylsilyl derivatization.

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