Alessandra Manca, Amedeo De Nicolò, Elisa Delia De Vivo, Micol Ferrara, Sharon Oh, Sahar Khalili, Niamh Higgins, Robert G Deiss, Stefano Bonora, Jessica Cusato, Alice Palermiti, Jacopo Mula, Sara Gianella, Antonio D'Avolio
BACKGROUND: Opioids are considered the cornerstone of pain management: they show good efficacy as a first-line therapy for moderate to severe cancer pain. Since pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic information about the tissue-specific effect and toxicity of opioids is still scarce, their quantification in post-mortem autoptic specimens could give interesting insights. METHODS: We describe an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry method for the simultaneous quantification of methadone, morphine, oxycodone, hydrocodone, oxymorphone, hydromorphone and fentanyl in several tissues: liver, brain, kidney, abdominal adipose tissue, lung and blood plasma...
June 19, 2023: Pharmaceuticals