Hair analysis for ketamine and its metabolites

A rapid and sensitive method was developed for the simultaneous identification and quantitation of ketamine (K) and its major metabolite, norketamine (NK) in hair. After decontamination, the hair sample was incubated and extracted, and analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Limits of quantitation were found to be 0.05 ng/mg. Hair segments in black color were collected from 15 K abusers. Based on an experiment with 15 cavies with black, white, and brown hair, the mechanism of incorporation of K into hair was investigated. After shaving hair on the back of the cavies (8 cm × 4 cm), they were separated into three groups and administered intraperitoneally once a day for 7 successive days with high, medium, and low doses of K, respectively. Two days after this, hair segments with different colors were shaved. There was a direct correlation between the concentration of K in cavy hair and the dose and DHNK was detected only in high dosage group. The concentration of K increased in the order of white, brown, and black hair. The possible factors responsible for the incorporation of K and its metabolites in hair were discussed.