Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38949034›Full record

ArticleDrug testing and analysis2025

The analysis of methylamphetamine and para-hydroxy-methylamphetamine in post-mortem hair samples using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

Dylan Mantinieks, Olaf H Drummer, Jennifer Schumann, Dimitri Gerostamoulos

Abstract readValidation Study
In one paragraph

Article in Drug testing and analysis, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Interpol review of forensic drug chemistry, 2022-2025.Forensic science international. Synergy · 2026
    Review
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Dylan MantinieksDepartment of Forensic Medicine, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Southbank, Victoria, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8943-8994
Olaf H DrummerDepartment of Forensic Medicine, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Southbank, Victoria, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8953-0312
Jennifer SchumannDepartment of Forensic Medicine, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Southbank, Victoria, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8870-6272
Dimitri GerostamoulosDepartment of Forensic Medicine, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Southbank, Victoria, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7958-8235

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

External contamination is a well-recognized limitation of hair analysis for drugs of abuse like methylamphetamine (MA), and there are no guidelines regarding the analysis of specific metabolites of MA to assist interpretation. We developed an analytical method to detect MA, amphetamine (AMP), and para-hydroxy-methylamphetamine (p-OH-MA) in hair and present their concentrations among a cohort of deceased persons positive for MA in blood (n = 63). Hair samples (≤ 3 cm) were washed with dichloromethane and water prior to extraction using a methanolic micro-pulverization. The reconstituted hair extracts were separated on a UCT Selectra® Aqueous C18 HPLC Column (100 × 2.1 mm, 3 μm) by gradient elution and detected using a Sciex Triple Quad 6500+ system. Validation was satisfactory, and the lower limits of quantitation were 0.01 ng/mg for MA and AMP and 0.001 ng/mg for p-OH-MA. The median hair concentrations of MA, AMP, and p-OH-MA were 13 ng/mg (range = 0.015-49; n = 51), 1.1 ng/mg (range = 0.018-44; n = 60), and 0.020 ng/mg (range = 0.0012-0.38, n = 62), respectively. These concentrations in hair were strongly positively correlated (r = .7202 to .8641, p < .001), suggesting similar modes of incorporation. Moreover, the wash/hair ratios were indicative of external contamination, especially among the soiled group of hair samples. Therefore, further studies are necessary to determine concentrations of p-OH-MA in living MA users and confirm if this metabolite constitutes a potential marker of MA consumption.

Indexed as

Central Nervous System StimulantsHairMethamphetamineSubstance Abuse DetectionTandem Mass SpectrometryAdultAmphetamineAutopsyChromatography, High Pressure LiquidFemaleHumansLimit of DetectionMaleMiddle AgedAmphetamineCentral Nervous System StimulantsMethamphetamineforensic toxicologyhair analysisliquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometrymethylamphetaminepara‐hydroxy‐methylamphetamine

Identifiers

PMID38949034
PMCPMC11994378

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.