Search

New psychoactive substances are being used as drugs and appear to be quite popular nowadays. Thanks to their specific properties, these drugs create inimitable experiences for intoxicated people. Synthetic cathinones are the most common compounds in these new drugs. Among them, α-pyrrolidopentadione (α-PVP), or "Flakka" (street name), is one of the most famous cathinone-designed drugs. Similar to other synthetic cathinone drugs, α-PVP can effectively inhibit norepinephrine and dopamine transmitters. The adverse reactions of α-PVP mainly include mania, tachycardia, and hallucinations. An increasing number of people are being admitted to emergency wards due to the consequences of their use. This work mainly summarizes the history, synthesis, pharmacology, toxicology, structure-activity relationship, metabolism, clinical process and health risks, poisoning and death, forensic toxicology, and legal status of α-PVP. We hope this review will help bring more attention to the exploration of this substance in order to raise awareness of its negative impacts on humans.

Introduction: Many new psychoactive substances (NPS) introduced as recreational drugs have been associated with severe intoxication and death., Methods: Blood and/or urine samples were collected from intoxicated patients treated at Swedish hospitals that participated in the STRIDA project, a nationawide effort to address the growing problem of NPS. In patients undergoing evaluation for drug overdose, α-PBP was identified using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Demographic and clinical data were collected during Poisons Information Centre consultations and retrieved from medical records., Results: From April 2013 to November 2015, 43 patients tested positive for α-PBP. However, α-PBP was never specifically mentioned during consultation but only confirmed analytically. The α-PBP concentrations ranged 2.0-13,200 ng/mL in urine and 2.0-440 ng/mL in serum. The patients were aged 19-57 (mean 34) years, 81% were men, and 73% were known drug addicts. All cases except 1 also involved other NPS and/or classical drugs. MDPV, α-PVP, and other pyrovalerone analogues were the most common other NPS (31 cases; 72%). CNS depressants were detected in 28 cases (65%), with benzodiazepines (16 cases) being most frequent. Main clinical characteristics were agitation/anxiety (59%), tachycardia (54%), and hypertension (37%), and 14 patients (33%) required monitoring in the intensive care unit of which 8 were graded as severe intoxications. No fatalities were reported., Conclusion: Patients with intoxication from α-PBP resembled those by NPS cathinones MDPV and α-PVP. As patients never specifically declared α-PBP intake and poly-drug intoxication was common, they may have been unaware of the actual substance taken.

We report a case of intoxication with a mixture of three synthetic cannabinoids and a synthetic cathinone, which have been disclosed by a highly sensitive progressing technology. A man was found dead, and his forensic autopsy was performed at our department. After further examinations of his specimens, EAM-2201 and α-PVP have been newly found in his lung. The concentrations of EAM-2201 have not been reported yet in any authentic human specimens although its existence (not quantified) in blood was reported in 2015. Therefore, a sensitive quantitation method of these compounds in blood and solid tissues has been devised using the sensitive instrument. The limits of detection of these compounds were in the range of 3-10 pg/ml with their quantification range of 10-1000 pg/ml in blood. The femoral vein blood levels of EAM-2201 and AB-PINACA were 56.6 ± 4.2 and 12.6 ± 0.1 pg/ml, respectively, and AB-FUBINACA could be detected but not quantifiable in the blood specimens; α-PVP could not be detected. The standard addition method was employed for the quantification of these compounds in the lung, liver and kidney specimens. The lung levels of EAM-2201, AB-PINACA, AB-FUBINACA and α-PVP were 348 ± 34, 355 ± 30, 124 ± 12 and 59.0 ± 7.4 pg/g, respectively. In conclusion, in this study, the concentrations of EAM-2201 in authentic human specimens including blood and solid tissues and those of AB-PINACA and AB-FUBINACA in solid tissue specimens were quantified for the first time to our knowledge., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This is a case report of a fatal intoxication in Cyprus related to 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) and 2-(methylamino)-1-phenylpentan-1-one (pentedrone) intake combined with antipsychotic and antidepressant substances. A 42- year old man with a history of serious psychiatric illness was found unresponsive in his bed. Seized materials were also found close to his body. The forensic autopsy reported myocardial infarction due to multidrug intoxication. Toxicology screening in blood and urine was applied. Biological specimens were analysed by enzyme immunoassay procedure and GC/MS. MDPV, pentedrone and etizolam detected and quantitated in blood and urine. Other drugs quantitated in blood were also olanzapine, mirtazapine, and ephedrine. This was the first fatal case reported in Cyprus associated with new psychoactive substances. Additionally, this was the first case reported to Early Warning System of the European Monitoring Center of Drugs and Drug Abuse (EMCDDA), related to multidrug intoxication, attributed to the consumption of cathinones, designer benzodiazepines, and other drugs., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The issue of sudden deaths due to acute pentedron poisoning is presented in the report. The analysis included three cases autopsied. Biological material were delivered to the Toxicological Laboratory ToxLab placed in Katowice, during the autopsy were subjected to chemical-toxicological analysis. Analysis of blood samples in the first case present concentration of the pentedrone were 385 ng/ml, and present the concentration of delta- 9-tetrahydrocannabinol were 2.6 ng/ml. Analysis of blood and urine samples in the next case present pentedrone concentrations were 280 ng/ml i 255 ng/ml. Analysis of blood samples in the third case present concentration of the pentedrone were 340 ng/ml.

We report a fatal case of combined α-pyrrolidinovalerophenone (α-PVP) and 2-(methylamino)-1-phenylpentan-1-one (pentedrone) poisoning. A 28-year-old man was taken to hospital in asystole. Despite resuscitation efforts over 30 min, he died. The forensic autopsy showed pulmonary edema and moderately advanced atherosclerotic lesions of the arteries. Microscopic observation revealed chronic changes in the heart. Confirmation of the presence of pentedrone, α-PVP, and its metabolite 1-phenyl-2-(pyrrolidin-1-yl)pentan-1-ol (OH-α-PVP) in tissues and fluids were achieved using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis after liquid-liquid extraction. A quantitative validated liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method was used to determine the concentrations of the above designer drugs in postmortem samples. Pentedrone, α-PVP, and OH-α-PVP concentrations were 8,794, 901 and 185 ng/mL in whole blood, respectively; 100,044, 2,610 and 2,264 ng/g in the liver, respectively; 22,102, 462 and 294 ng/g in the kidney, respectively; 13,248, 120 and 91 ng/g in the brain, respectively and 500,534, 4,190 and 47 ng/g in the stomach contents, respectively. This is the first known reported death attributed to the combined use of α-PVP and pentedrone. Additionally, this article is the first to report the distribution of pentedrone in postmortem human samples., (© The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Context: Naphyrone (naphthylpyrovalerone) is a cathinone derivative and recreational drug related to mephedrone., Case: We report a 31-year-old man who ingested a dose of naphyrone (100 mg), which produced acute sympathomimetic toxicity with restlessness, insomnia, anxiety, and hallucinations lasting for 2 days. Naphyrone was detected in the patient's plasma by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry at concentrations of 0.03 and 0.02 mg/L, 40 and 60 h after drug intake, respectively., Discussion: Based on the present case report and user web-reports, as well as on the chemical structure and pharmacological characteristics, naphyrone produces stimulant-like psychotropic effects and sympathomimetic toxicity.