Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40163235›Full record

ArticleForensic toxicology2025

Beware of misattributing 'modafinil' in diphenhydramine-positive cases.

Karolina Nowak, Marcin Zawadzki, Paweł Szpot

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In one paragraph

Article in Forensic toxicology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

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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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. 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

3 authors.

Karolina NowakDepartment of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Opole, 48 Oleska Street, 45052, Opole, Poland.ORCID 0000-0002-0104-1053
Marcin ZawadzkiDepartment of Social Sciences and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, 27 Wybrzeze Wyspianskiego Street, 50370, Wroclaw, Poland. m.zawadzki@pwr.edu.pl.ORCID 0000-0003-2146-9724
Paweł SzpotDepartment of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Wroclaw Medical University, 4 J. Mikulicza-Radeckiego Street, 50345, Wroclaw, Poland.ORCID 0000-0002-5352-3492

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeDiphenhydramine is an antihistaminic agent available in numerous over-the-counter preparations, while modafinil is a wakefulness-promoting agent, available only by prescription, but also used recreationally, when purchased from the black market. Structurally, both substances belong to the class of so-called benzhydryl compounds, which can complicate their proper differentiation. The authors point out the possibility of misattributing modafinil in diphenhydramine-positive cases due to the likely coelution of nordiphenhydramine and modafinil.

methodsPost-mortem blood and vitreous humor samples were subjected to liquid-liquid extraction using ethyl acetate in an alkaline environment (pH = 9), followed by a detailed toxicological analysis utilizing ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry.

resultsThrough the application of full scan mode, multiple reaction monitoring (MRM), and product ion scan mode, the presence of modafinil was excluded in diphenhydramine-positive biological matrices (blood and vitreous humor).

conclusionsIn the analysis of benzhydryl compounds, particular caution should be exercised, with each case verified by comparison with a certified analytical standard, and, where possible, by detecting the metabolites of these compounds.

Indexed as

Benzhydryl CompoundsDiphenhydramineWakefulness-Promoting AgentsChromatography, High Pressure LiquidForensic ToxicologyHumansLiquid-Liquid ExtractionMaleModafinilTandem Mass SpectrometryVitreous BodyBenzhydryl CompoundsDiphenhydramineModafinilWakefulness-Promoting AgentsBenzhydryl compoundsDiphenhydramineMetabolitesModafinilUHPLC-MS/MS

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Registered trials

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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.