Clinical Chemistry
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Clinical Chemistry 43: 1659-1660, 1997;
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(Clinical Chemistry. 1997;43:1659-1660.)
© 1997 American Association for Clinical Chemistry, Inc.

Technical Briefs

Automated On-Line Hydrolysis of Benzodiazepines Improves Sensitivity of Urine Screening by a Homogeneous Enzyme Immunoassay

Jeri D. Ropero-Miller, Diana Garside and Bruce A. Goldbergera

Univ. of Florida College of Med., Dept. of Pathol., Immunol., and Lab. Med., P.O. Box 100275, Gainesville, FL 32610-0275
a author for correspondence: fax 352-846-1586, e-mail goldberg.pathology@mail.health.ufl.edu

Benzodiazepines are used therapeutically as antidepressant, anxiolytic, anticonvulsant, hypnotic, muscle relaxant, and preanesthetic agents. Moreover, benzodiazepines are often abused for their euphoric effects. Consequently, benzodiazepines are commonly detected in toxicological analyses.

Immunoassays of benzodiazepines are plagued by several factors that make reliable detection difficult. Complicated metabolic pathways, including N-dealkylation, C-hydroxylation, and glucuronidation, effectively reduce the parent compound to more polar, and thus easily excreted, metabolites. Some of these metabolites are pharmacologically active; in some cases, they are present in higher concentrations and have a longer elimination half-life than the parent compound (1)(2). Many, especially the glucuronide conjugates, which appear at high concentrations in the urine, do not readily cross-react with commercial immunoassays. In contrast, other benzodiazepine metabolites demonstrate high cross-reactivity, depending on the immunoassay utilized (3).

In the US, 13 benzodiazepines of various potencies are commonly prescribed. Therapeutic daily doses have substantially decreased with the newer generation of benzodiazepines (2). Variations in dosage and in ultimate excretion patterns complicate the ability to accurately detect benzodiazepine use (4).

Accumulated research findings indicate pretreating urine . . . [Full Text of this Article]


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The following articles in journals at HighWire Press have cited this article:


Home page
 Clin. Chem.Home page
D. Borrey, E. Meyer, L. Duchateau, W. Lambert, C. Van Peteghem, and A. De Leenheer
Enzymatic Hydrolysis Improves the Sensitivity of Emit Screening for Urinary Benzodiazepines
Clin. Chem., November 1, 2002; 48(11): 2047 - 2049.
[Full Text] [PDF]


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