Expositions récréatives de 8 patients aux nouvelles drogues de synthèse obtenues sur Internet : à propos de 3,4-méthylènedioxypyrovalérone (MDPV) et de méthoxétamine (MXE).

Among the legal high drugs easily obtained by internet, 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) and methoxetamine (MXE) were observed in 8 patients who needed hospitalization after ingestion for an isolated experience (n = 4) or collective recreational use (n = 4). Clinical symptoms were hypertension, tachycardia, agitation, hallucinations, and coma for 2 patients. Methods: Plasma and urine analyses were performed by classical HPLC/UV-DAD and GC/MS screening approaches, both with quantitative measurements by either HPLC/UV after back-extraction at acidic pH and/or UPLC/MS/MS after single protein-precipitation purification. Results: MDPV levels (n = 2) were 45 µg/L and below the limit of quantification for plasma, and 2.3 and 0.3 mg/L for urine samples. MXE plasma levels were between 122 and 366 µg/L for 6 patients and below the limit of quantification for one patient. Urine levels (n = 6) were between 2 and 165 mg/L. Two supposed metabolites of MXE were identified as N-desethyl-MXE and O-demethyl- N-desethyl-MXE. Conclusion: While MDPV is now a controlled substance in France, MXE has no status. These observations should be taken into account for a possible future registration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]