New high-resolution urine drug testing profile - Insights

10 Jun.,2024

 

New high-resolution urine drug testing profile - Insights

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For the millions of individuals worldwide struggling with substance use disorders, recognizing

the problem as a medical condition with serious health consequences is an exceedingly important initial step toward seeking help. That acknowledgement, however, is just part of the oftentimes difficult process required for patients to start down the path to recovery.

&#;When care providers suspect substance abuse, it is really essential that they have a means to detect and document the problem,&#; says Terry Schneekloth, M.D., chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology at Mayo Clinic&#;s Arizona campus. &#;One of the major challenges of treating alcohol and substance use disorders is that few people acknowledge having a problem, and most patients don&#;t speak openly about their substance use to their health care providers.&#;

Terry Schneekloth, M.D.

Laboratory urine drug testing plays a key role in distinguishing which substances individuals are using so they can begin appropriate therapy. However, the large and oftentimes arbitrary drug testing panels currently offered by some laboratories do little to increase understanding of a patient&#;s substance use disorder, says Paul Jannetto, Ph.D., co-director of the Clinical and Forensic Toxicology Laboratory at Mayo Clinic.

&#;This type of testing is often inappropriate and can be very costly to the patient and health care system,&#; Dr. Jannetto says. &#;The goal is not to identify every drug technically possible, but to perform medically necessary testing for those drugs that are most likely to impact clinical outcomes.&#;

Mayo Clinic Laboratories has developed a new, data-driven urine drug testing (UDT) profile to equip physicians with necessary information while ensuring proper testing utilization.

Paul Jannetto, Ph.D.

Geared toward managing patients with addiction to common substances, such as prescription opioids, alcohol, marijuana, and nicotine, the new Addiction Medicine Monitoring Profile (Mayo ID ADMPU) aligns with the American Society of Addiction Medicine&#;s consensus statement on the appropriate use of drug testing in clinical addiction medicine.

Comprehensive, clinically relevant testing

While the media tends to sensationalize certain types of drugs, such as designer or club drugs, these classes of substances are not widely used in most community settings, explains Loralie Langman, Ph.D., co-director of the Clinical and Forensic Toxicology Laboratory.

&#;Our testing focuses on drugs that are highly prevalent,&#; Dr. Langman says. &#;We don&#;t perform testing on esoteric drugs that are not commonly used or abused.&#;

Loralie Langman, Ph.D.

Utilizing high-resolution, accurate mass spectrometry, ADMPU offers enhanced sensitivity and specificity to identify parent drugs and metabolites from 22 drug classes. The profile includes targeted testing for 33 opioids, 27 benzodiazepines, and 10 stimulants and PCP, as well as immunoassay testing for barbiturates, cocaine, marijuana, and ethyl glucuronide, which reflex to confirmatory testing. In addition, testing for nicotine and its metabolites is included.

&#;These targeted screens have lower detection limits, so offer improved sensitivity,&#; Dr. Jannetto says. &#;The targeted screening also improves test utilization without compromising turnaround times, since they significantly reduce the need for additional confirmatory testing required with traditional immunoassay screens.&#;

ADMPU, which joins CSMEU and CSMPU in Mayo Clinic Laboratories&#; portfolio of comprehensive, substance monitoring profiles, also includes specimen validity testing and adulterant testing to ascertain specimen integrity prior to analysis.

Determining whether patients are actively misusing substances, including alcohol and tobacco, or if attempts have been made to mask the use, is one of the greatest challenges of effective drug testing.

&#;Adulterants for masking substances in urine screens are widely available in drugstores or over the internet,&#; Dr. Schneekloth says. &#;You really need the most accurate lab test for detection of the substance and its confirmation, and that is something available at Mayo Clinic. Once we identify the substances of active abuse, then we can monitor for any evidence of relapse over the course of treatment.&#;

Transparency enables targeted treatment

The comprehensive nature of ADMPU gives it greater efficacy as a tool to detect and monitor treatment for polysubstance abuse.

&#;When I came out of my addictive disorders fellowship nearly 30 years ago at Mayo Clinic Rochester, we were primarily treating alcoholics,&#; Dr. Schneekloth says. &#;Patients were less likely to have multiple, co-occurring substance use problems. In 30 years, that&#;s changed &#; there are far fewer individuals reporting only alcohol use, which has changed the recovery world. Most people who attend AA also have a cannabis smoking history and many have experimented with a number of other drugs.&#;

&#;Cross-addiction&#; is when people develop problems with multiple substances, explains Dr. Schneekloth. Whether alcohol, heroin, cannabis, or other chemicals, the substances stimulate the same neural pathways in the brain that result in a pleasurable experience and foster repeated use, eventually leading to compulsive or addictive use. Awareness of all the drugs a patient has used is crucial to achieving successful treatment outcomes.

&#;When people come into addiction treatment, we don't know what they're on, and we're often very surprised to find out that they've told us about the alcohol, but they haven&#;t mentioned the other things.  Sometimes they do not recall what they&#;ve used when intoxicated,&#; Dr. Schneekloth says.

For patients who require substance abuse monitoring as part of a medical intervention for disease management, transparency about their substance use is essential for successful medical outcomes.

&#;A physician may be most concerned about testing for alcohol if the patient has liver disease and might not check whether the patient just gave up alcohol but transitioned to cannabis or another substance,&#; Dr. Schneekloth explains. &#;This may keep their addiction going and put them at greater risk of eventually going back to the primary substance.

&#;Unless all active substance use problems are under treatment, the team would not be moving forward in helping the patient with the problem. It&#;s critical then that the treatment team has the best technology and the highest accuracy in testing to monitor people. And that's something that we do.&#;

Precision results, personalized insights

To provide clinicians with the highest level of detail about test results, each of Mayo Clinic Laboratories&#; comprehensive substance monitoring profiles includes interpretative results reporting.

&#;This simplifies the challenges associated with interpreting this type of testing, from complex metabolic pathways to identification of potential pharmaceutical impurities found in these controlled substances,&#; Dr. Langman says.

From a provider&#;s point of view, inclusion of this type of detailed reporting inspires confidence in the accuracy of the test results.

Not only does Mayo Clinic Laboratories&#; testing identify the presence of interfering compounds and metabolic breakdowns, it also determines thresholds of alcohol exposure that are highly specific for ingestion as opposed to trace exposures, like mouthwash or hand sanitizers. It also identifies active marijuana use as opposed to trace exposures and distinguishes the drug&#;s slow clearance after previous high-dose use.

&#;There are so many things in the environment that can cause less-sensitive tests &#; immunoassay, for instance &#; to register something that in fact is not there. This really speaks to the importance of an extremely high level of laboratory precision offered through the Mayo laboratory,&#; Dr. Schneekloth says.

The clarity enabled by ADMPU provides an accountability for patients on which change can be measured.

&#;Whether people are trying to modify their diet or get out for a daily walk, we need accountability for change, and there&#;s no place more critical for accountability than when people are trying to manage an addiction,&#; Dr. Schneekloth says. &#;One of the major factors in helping people get off substances is detecting them and rapidly helping them develop an effective treatment plan. Accessible and accurate urine testing gives them that level of accountability and also the capacity to demonstrate that they are staying clean.&#;

More from Eye on Innovation

 

Urine drug tests: Uses, procedure, detection times, and ...

A urine drug test can detect both illegal and prescription drugs in a person&#;s system. Doctors, sports officials, and many employers require these tests regularly. Urine tests are quick, easy, painless, and cost-effective.

They are a common method of screening for drugs.

Signs of drug use can remain in a person&#;s system long after the physical effects wear off. The analysis can determine whether a person used specific drugs days or weeks before testing.

In this article, we take a close look at urine drug screens. We describe what they can detect and how long these substances remain traceable in urine.

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Help is available

Seeking help for addiction may feel daunting or even scary, but several organizations can provide support.

If you believe that you or someone close to you is showing signs of addiction, you can contact the following organizations for immediate help and advice:

  • Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA): 800-662- (TTY: 800-487-)
  • 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: 988

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Procedure and types of urine test

A doctor or trained technician usually performs a urine drug screening.

There are several types of these tests. An immunoassay (IA) test is most common because it is the quickest and most cost effective.

However, IA tests can give false-positive results. In this case, the results indicate the presence of a drug that the person has not used. False-negative results can also occur.

Another type can confirm the results of an IA test. This is called gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A GC-MS test is more reliable than an IA test, and it can detect more substances.

Usually, people only request GC-MS tests as follow-ups because they are more expensive, and the results take longer.

How reliable are urine drug tests?

Generic IA tests can show cocaine, amphetamines, opioids, cannabinoids, and PCP. A doctor may require a more specialized IA test to check for synthetic and semisynthetic opioids, such as methadone.

It is important to note that consuming certain legal substances can lead to false-positive IA test results. For example, consuming high enough quantities of dextromethorphan, a common ingredient in cough syrups, can cause a positive result for PCP on this type of test.

To minimize the risk of false positives, urine drug screens have cut-off levels. This means that a result is only positive when the test detects an amount of a drug that is above a certain level. Cut-offs also reduce the likelihood of testing positive due to only passive exposure to a drug. Secondhand smoke is one example of passive exposure.

Also, both IA and GC-MS tests can produce false-negative results. These fail to indicate recent drug use. A false-negative result can occur when urine is very diluted, for example.

Detection times

Many factors can affect when a test can detect a certain drug. Some factors include:

  • the person&#;s body mass
  • their hydration levels
  • the acidity of their urine
  • how long ago the drug use occurred

Overall, the more frequently and heavily drug use occurs, the longer the drug will be detectable.

Below, for example, we show how long urine tests can detect cannabis.

Frequency of cannabis useDetection times after usesingle use2 days3 times a week2 weeksdaily use2-4 weeksheavy daily useup to 12 weeks

Other typical drug detection ranges include:

DrugDetection times after usealcohol7&#;12 hoursamphetamines2&#;3 daysshort-acting benzodiazepines3&#;5 dayslong-acting benzodiazepinesup to 30 daysbuprenorphineup to 11 dayscocaine metabolites2&#;4 dayscodeine1&#;2 daysfentanyl2&#;3 daysheroin or morphine1&#;3 daysmethadone3&#;4 daysoxycodone1&#;3 days

How to prepare for a urine test

The test requires little preparation. Usually, a person just has to urinate into a plastic container and return the urine sample to the technician or doctor.

They then measure the temperature of the urine sample to make sure it is suitable for testing. They seal the sample in a plastic bag. If a person cannot return their sample to a medical professional within 1 hour, they should seal it in a plastic bag and store it in a refrigerator.

A technician may accompany the person to make sure that they are giving the sample correctly. The technician should explain the reason for this supervision.

It is important to note that certain medicines and supplements can cause false-positive results.

A person should tell the test provider if they are taking any:

  • prescription medications
  • over-the-counter medicines
  • herbal remedies
  • supplements

Interpreting the results

Urine drug screen results usually come back within a few days or on the same day.

If a result is positive, a person may need to take a second test for confirmation. This may be a GC-MS test, which gives more accurate results.

The person who carried out the test or a medical review officer will explain the results.

Summary

A urine drug screen can quickly, effectively detect some illegal and prescription drugs. Doctors, sports officials, and employers may request this type of test for various reasons.

The screening can detect a range of substances, including cannabis, nicotine, barbiturates, and opioids such as heroin and methadone. Some remain traceable in the body longer than others.

If an initial result is positive, a person may need to take a second, more accurate test.

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