Date of Award

Spring 6-2017

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department/Program

Forensic Science

Language

English

First Advisor or Mentor

Richard Stripp

Second Reader

Donald Hoffman

Third Advisor

Damon Borg

Abstract

An original method to extract and detect barbiturates, specifically secobarbital, in hair by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), has been developed. Drug-free hair specimens were fortified with an exaggerated amount of secobarbital to produce a homogeneous, true positive sample to be utilized to test the drug extraction efficiency from hair. Drug extraction using hair extraction buffer (HEB) from Immunalysis was compared to a base digestion using 1M NaOH. After LCMS/MS analysis, HEB extraction was deemed a successful method for extracting barbiturates from hair. Using this method, the Barbiturates Direct ELISA Kit from Immunalysis was evaluated for its potential use in the detection of barbiturates in hair specimens. After thorough analysis, it appears the kit is more than suitable as a screening assay due to its sensitivity and reproducibility.

Included in

Toxicology Commons

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