Correlation between Amphetamine Concentrations in Saliva and Whole Blood Collected from Methamphetamine Abusers

覚せい剤乱用者における唾液中と全血中の覚せい剤濃度の相関を明らかにするために,51名の乱用者から経目的に唾液と血液を採取し,唾液pHおよび唾液中・全血中の覚せい剤濃度を測定した。唾液と血液が同時に採取でき,覚せい剤が検出された71組の検体では,1組を除き全血中の覚せい剤濃度(全血中濃度)より唾液中の覚せい剤濃度(唾液中濃度)が高値であった。全血中濃度に対する唾液中濃度比(唾液/全血濃度比)は大きく変動するが,唾液pH値との間には相関があった。覚せい剤分析には,濃度の点で血液より唾液が優れていた。唾液のpHを測定することにより,唾液中濃度から全血中濃度を推定することが可能であり,中毒レベルを推定できた。In order to know the correlation between amphetamine concentrations in saliva and whole blood, saliva and blood samples of 51 methamphetamine abusers were collected up to 11 days after the last intake of methamphetamine. Amphetamine concentrations in saliva were higher than those in whole blood in all but one 70 pair samples. Ratio of amphetamine concentrations in saliva to those in whole blood were highly varied depending on the pH of saliva, but ratio were correlated with the pH of saliva. These results suggest that saliva is better than blood for amphetamine analysis, and that amphetamine concentrations in whole blood and the intoxication level of a methamphetamine abuser can be estimated by the amphetamine concentration and the pH of saliva