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Case Reports
. 2024 Jan;98(1):151-158.
doi: 10.1007/s00204-023-03615-z. Epub 2023 Oct 13.

Identification, synthesis and quantification of eutylone consumption markers in a chemsex context

Romain Pelletier  1   2 , Brendan Le Daré  3   4 , Diane Le Bouëdec  5 , Alexis Bourdais  3 , Pierre-Jean Ferron  3 , Isabelle Morel  3   5 , François-Hugues Porée  6 , Thomas Gicquel  3   5
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Free article
Case Reports

Identification, synthesis and quantification of eutylone consumption markers in a chemsex context

Romain Pelletier et al. Arch Toxicol. 2024 Jan.
Free article

Abstract

Eutylone is a cathinone-derived synthetic amphetamine scheduled by the World Health Organization and European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction since 2022 due to its growing consumption. We report here an eutylone intoxication involving a 38-year-old man and a 29-year-old woman in a chemsex context. A bag containing a white crystalline powder labelled as a research product was found in their vehicle. Nuclear magnetic resonance and liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) analyses identified the powder as eutylone and confirmed purity superior to 99%. LC-HRMS data analysis using molecular networking allowed to propose new eutylone metabolites in blood samples in a graphical manner. We described 16 phase I (e.g. hydroxylated or demethylated) and phase II metabolites (glucuroconjugates and sulfoconjugates). The same metabolites were found both in male and female blood samples. Toxicological analyses measured eutylone concentration in blood samples at 1374 ng/mL and 1536 ng/mL for the man and the woman, respectively. A keto-reduced metabolite (m/z 238.144) was synthesized to permit its quantification at 67 ng/mL and 54 ng/mL in male and female blood samples, respectively. Overall, the identification of these metabolites will increase the knowledge of potential drug consumption markers and allow to implement mass spectrometry databases to better monitor future drug abuse or consumption.

Keywords: Cathinone; Chemsex; Eutylone; LC-HRMS; Molecular networking.

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