Abstract
Benzodiazepines were first introduced in the 1960s as a safer alternative to phenobarbital. In the 1970s and mid-1980s, diazepam (Valium) was the most commonly prescribed benzodiazepine. The dose levels and excretion patterns of these first generation benzodiazepines produced concentrations in samples that made drug detection easy by immunoassay (1). As chemists explored structure—activity relationships of this new class of compounds, a new generation of benzodiazepines was developed that exploited substituent activation of 1,4-benzodiazepine (2). These new benzodiazepines therefore were more potent prescribed in lower doses. This new generation of benzodiazepines was also fast acting and had much shorter half-lives with respect to blood concentrations and excretion levels.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Kaplan, S. A, Jack, M. L., Alexander, K., and Weinfeld, R. E. (1973) Pharmacokinetic profile of diazepam in man following single intravenous and oral and chronic oral administrations. J. Pharmaceut. Sci. 62, 1789–1796.
Sternbach, L. H. (1973) Chemistry of the 1,4-benzodiazepines and some aspects of the structure-activity relationship, in The Benzodiazepines (Garattini, S., Mussini, E., and Randall, L. O., eds.), Raven Press, New York.
Dawson, G. W., Jue, S. G., and Brogden, R. N. (1984) Alprazolam: a review of its pharmacodynamic properties and efficacy in the treatment of anxiety and depression. Drugs 27, 132–147.
Baktir, G., Fisch, H. U., Huguenin, P., and Bircher, J. (1983) Triazolam concentration-effect relationships in healthy subjects. Clin. Pharmacol. Ther. 34, 195–201.
Greenblatt, D. J., Schillings, R. T., and Hyriakopoulos, A. A. (1976) Clinical pharmacokinetics of lorazepam. I. Absorption and disposition of oral 14C-lorazepam. Clin. Pharmacol. Ther. 20, 329–341.
Rieder, J. and Wendt, G. (1973) Pharmacokinetics and metabolism of the hypnotic nitrazepam, in The Benzodiazepines (Garattini, S., Mussini, E., and Randall, L.O., eds.), Raven Press, New York.
Salamone, S. J., Honasoge, S., Brenner, C., McNally, A. J., Passarelli, J., Goc-Szkutnicka, K., et al. (1997) Flunitrazepam excretion patterns using the Abuscreen Ontrak and Online immunoassays: comparison with GC-MS. J. Analyt. Toxicol. 21, 341–345.
Berlin, A. and Dahlstrom, H. (1975) Pharmacokinetics of the anticonvulsant drug clonazepam evaluated from single oral and intravenous doses and by repeated oral administration. Eur. J. Clin. Pharmacol. 9, 155–159.
Kaplan, S. A. and Jack, M. L. (1983) Metabolism of the benzodiazepines: pharmaco-kinetic and pharmacodynamic considerations, in The Benzodiazepines: From Molecular Biology to Clinical Practice (Costa, E., ed.), Raven Press, New York.
Beck, O., Lafolie, P., Odelius, G., and Boréus, L. (1990) Immunological screening of benzodiazepines in urine: improved detection of oxazepam intake. Toxicol. Lett. 52, 7–14.
Beck, O., Lafolie, P., Hjemdahl, P., Borg, S., Odelius, G., and Wirbing, P. (1992) Detection of benzodiazepine intake in therapeutic doses by immunanalysis of urine: two techniques evaluated and modified for improved performance. Clin. Chem. 38, 271–275.
Meatherall, R. (1994) Benzodiazepine screening using EMIT II and TDx: urine hydrolysis pretreatment required. J. Analyt. Toxicol. 18, 385–390.
Simonsson, P., Liden, A., and Lindberg, S. (1995) Effect of ß-glucuronidase on urinary benzodiazepine concentration determined by fluorescence polarization immunoassay. Clin. Chem. 41, 920–923.
Beck, O., Lin, Z., Brodin, K., Borg, S., and Hjemdahl, P. (1997) The online screening technique for urinary benzodiazepines: comparison with EMIT, FPIA, and GC-MS. J. Analvt. Toxicol. 21, 554–557.
Wu, A. H. B., Wong, S. S., Johnson, K. G., et al. (1993) Evaluation of the Triage system for emergency drugs-of-abuse testing in urine. J. Analyt. Toxicol. 17, 241–245.
SOFT (1997) Poster #35 Enhanced sensitivity for the CEDIA dau benzodiazepine screening assay. Salt Lake City, UT.
Schwenzer, K. S., Pearlman, R., Tsilimidos, M., Salamone, S. J., Cannon, R. C., Gock, S. B., and Wong, S. H. Y. (2001) New fluorescence polarization immunoassays for analysis of barbituates and benzodiazepines in serum and urine: performance characteristics. J. Analyt. Toxicol. 24, 726–732.
Meatherall, R. (1994) Optimal enzymatic hydrolysis of urinary benzodiazepine conjugates. J. Analyt. Toxicol. 18, 382–384.
Dou, C., Bournique, J. S., Zinda, M. K., Gnezda, M., McNally, A. J., and Salamone, S. J. (2001) Comparison of the rates of hydrolysis of lorazepam-glucuronide, oxazepam-glucuronide and temazepam-glucuronide catalyzed by E. coli. ß-D-glucuronidase using the online benzodiazepine screening immunoassay on the Roche/Hitachi 917 analyzer. J. Forensic Sci. 46, 335–340.
Abbott Laboratories (1987) Product bulletin for TDx benzodiazepines, June 1987. Abbott Park, IL.
Baselt, R. C. and Cravey, R. H. (1995) Disposition of Toxic Drugs and Chemicals in Man, 4th edit., Chemical Toxicology Institute, Foster City, CA, pp. 432–433.
Greenblatt, D. J., Joyce, T. H., Comer, W. H., et al. (1977) Clinical pharmacokinetics of lorazepam: II. Intramuscular injection. Clin. Pharmacol. Ther. 21, 220–230.
Chang, J. (1985) Comment to the editor. Clin. Chem. 31, 152.
SOFT (1998) Workshop #7 Rohypnol Detection. Albuquerque, NM.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
St. Claire, T.N., Salamone, S.J. (2001). Immunoassay Detection of Benzodiazepines. In: Salamone, S.J. (eds) Benzodiazepines and GHB. Forensic Science and Medicine. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-109-1_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-109-1_2
Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ
Print ISBN: 978-1-61737-287-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-59259-109-1
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive