New psychoactive substances (NPS) are present on the Italian illicit markets, but data from the analysis of biological samples to evaluate their real consumption are rare. For this reason, an epidemiological study was carried out by means of a ultra performance liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC–MS/MS) method for the determination of 115 NPS on the keratin matrix. A total of 847 hair samples were collected in 2020 and 2021 and analyzed. The sample donors were in the age range of 18–40 years, from both genders, and were tested either for driving relicensing or for drug withdrawal monitoring. The UPLC–MS/MS system consisted of a Waters ACQUITY UPLC® I-Class, coupled with a Waters XEVO TQ-XS triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. The method was developed and fully validated according to international guidelines. Limits of detection were set as the minimum criterion to identify positive samples. Overall, 56 samples resulted positive for ketamine, 35 for norketamine, 6 for fentanyl, 3 for norfentanyl, 3 for 4-ANPP, 3 for MDMB-4en-PINACA, 2 for N,N-DMT, 2 for 5-chloro AB-PINACA, 1 for α-PHP and 1 for methcathinone. NPS were detected in a small part of samples (8.4%), which seems in contrast with their apparent wide diffusion in Italy, yet it is congruent with similar investigations based on hair analysis. Future studies will be performed to expand the investigated population, especially in terms of age and origin.

中文翻译：

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NPS 常用吗？基于头发分析在意大利北部进行的广泛调查

意大利非法市场上存在新型精神活性物质（NPS），但用于评估其实际消费量的生物样本分析数据却很少。为此，采用超高效液相色谱-串联质谱（UPLC-MS/MS）方法进行了流行病学研究，测定角蛋白基质上的115 NPS。2020 年和 2021 年共采集并分析了 847 个头发样本。样本捐献者的年龄范围为 18 至 40 岁，男女不限，并接受了驾驶重新执照或戒毒监测测试。UPLC-MS/MS 系统由 Waters ACQUITY UPLC® I-Class 和 Waters XEVO TQ-XS 三重四极杆质谱仪组成。该方法是根据国际指南开发和充分验证的。检测限被设定为识别阳性样本的最低标准。总体而言，56 个样本氯胺酮呈阳性，35 个去甲氯胺酮样本，6 个芬太尼样本，3 个去甲芬太尼样本，3 个 4-ANPP，3 个 MDMB-4en-PINACA，2 个 N,N-DMT，2 个 5-氯 AB- PINACA，1 表示 α-PHP，1 表示甲卡西酮。在一小部分样本（8.4%）中检测到了 NPS，这似乎与它们在意大利的广泛扩散形成鲜明对比，但与基于头发分析的类似调查是一致的。未来的研究将扩大调查人群，特别是年龄和血统方面。