Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Australian Journal Of Forensic Sciences, cilt.111, ss.1-15, 2021 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
Benzodiazepines are frequently abused drugs
due to their effects on central nervous system and these substances may cause impaired
driving as well as other criminal cases.
The aim of this study was to determine the
frequency of diazepam, alprazolam and clonazepam among traffic accidents
besides alcohol. It was also aimed to develop an optimized GC-MS method for
benzodiazepine analysis in serum samples. Biological samples were collected
from 44 injured drivers involved in traffic accidents. For alcohol, whole blood
samples were analyzed by Head Space/GC-MS.
The linearity range was found 1.25-30
μg/mL for diazepam, 5-120 for alprazolam, 10-60 for clonazepam and 10-60 for
clonazepam-TMS. Calibration curves were acquired in linear form with R2 ≥0.999
correlation coefficients. The recovery ratios were found 70.2% and above.
Limit of Detection limits for diazepam, alprazolam,
clonazepam and clonazepam-TMS were 0.396 μg/mL, 0.887 μg/mL, 3.472 μg/mL and 4.885
μg/mL respectively. Diazepam, alprazolam or clonazepam substances were not found
in any of the serum samples while 16.2% of drivers were drunk.
As a conclusion, a validated analytical
method was developed for determination of the most abused benzodiazepines in
Turkey, which impair driving ability; it is planning to conduct for further
studies with more cases.