SOFT 2004 Meeting Abstracts - Society of Forensic Toxicologists

F12
TITLE: AMPHETAMINE CONCENTRATIONS IN URINE AFTER THE USE OF DEXEDRINE
"GO-PILLS": COMPARISON OF SINGLE AND DOUBLE DOSES OF D-AMPHETAMINE.
P.L. Mobley*, S.H. Constable, R.D. Vanderbeek, T.A. Frazier, C.S. Ramsey, D. Wheeler
Presenting Author: Philip L. Mobley, Ph.D. Business Address: Air Force Drug Testing Laboratory,
AFIOH/SDT, 2730 Louis Bauer Drive, Brooks AFB, TX 78235
The Air Force, under the close supervision of flight surgeons, approves the use of amphetamine for both
active duty and reserve Air Force aviators to counter performance problems during long military missions
associated with fatigue and sleep deprivation. These pilots may also be subjected to urine drug tests, which
include testing for amphetamines by DoD. Studies were conducted to determine the window of detection
for amphetamine after the administration of Dexedrine ("Go-Pills") at two approved doses. Volunteers
(22-58 years, mean=38.7 years) were administered a single IOmg dose of d-amphetamine (N=31), or two
10mg doses four hours apart (N=31). A urine specimen was collected from each subject just prior to drug
administration and collected ad libitum thereafter for several days. Urine was screened using the KIMS
immunoassay. GCIMS was performed on specimens from each subject until the amphetamine
concentration fell consistently below 350ng/ml in the screen test. Based on GC/MS analysis, peak urine
concentrations of amphetamine ranged from 602 ng/ml to 12,191 ng/ml with a mean of 3345 ng/ml in the
single-dose study, and from 1,339 ng/mJ to 15,359 ng/ml with a mean of 6076 ng/ml in the two-dose study.
The time at which the highest (peak) concentration was observed ranged from 2.6 to 29.6 hours with a
mean of 12.3 hours (sd=6.3) in the single dose study, and from 4.0 to 26.5 hours with a mean of 13.8 hours
(sd=6.7) in the two-dose study. The time to the last identified positive (>500 ng/ml) in each subject ranged
from 2.6 to 46.7 hours with a mean of 31.3 hours (sd=9.7) in the single-dose study, and from 29.1 to 71.5
hours with a mean of 44.8 hours (sd=9.3) in the two-dose study. The excretion rate half-life of
amphetamine in the urine was approximately 12 to 13 hours in both test groups. These studies indicate that
most pilots should be below the DoD cutoff of 500 ng/mJ within 48 hours after a single 10 mg dose, and
within 72 hours after the 2xlO mg dose.
Key Words: Amphetamine, Urine, Go-Pills
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