Determination of Ketamine and Norketamine in Hair and Evaluation of Polydrug Use in Ketamine Abusers Using Hair Analysis in Korea

This study evaluated hair samples from 28 subjects who tested positive for ketamine at Seoul Institute National Forensic Service in Korea between 2016 and 2017. Ketamine in the hair was extracted using a solution of 1% hydrochloric acid in methanol for 16 h. Extracts were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) or liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS). The LC-MS-MS method was validated by determining the limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), linearity, intra- and inter-accuracy, precision and matrix effect. In 59 ketamine-positive hair or hair segments from 28 ketamine abusers, the ketamine concentration was found to be in the range of 0.011-335.8 ng/mg (mean, 13.6; median, 1.8), and the norketamine concentration was found to be in the range of 0.001-35.7 ng/mg (mean, 7.5; median, 0.44). The ratio of norketamine to ketamine concentrations in hair was in the range of 0.01-1.46 (mean, 0.34; median, 0.26). The distribution of ketamine concentration in hair samples was as follows: 0.01-0.1 ng/mg in 11 samples (18.6%), 0.1-5 ng/mg in 33 samples (55.9%), 5-10 ng/mg in 4 samples (6.8%), 10-15 ng/mg in 2 samples (3.4%), 15-20 ng/mg in 4 samples (6.8%), 40-45 ng/mg in 2 samples (3.4%), 45-50 ng/mg in 1 sample (1.7%) and>100 ng/mg in only 2 samples (3.4%). In the hair of ketamine abusers, 26 of 28 subjects were detected simultaneously ketamine with other drugs, including methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; n=9), methamphetamine (MA; n=3), MDMA/MA (n=3), MDMA/para-methoxyamphetamine (PMA; n=3), MDMA/PMA/MA (n=2), cocaine (n=1) and other drugs (n=5, propofol, zolpidem or benzodiazepines). Along with ketamine, other controlled drugs were detected in most of the hair samples: MDMA (60.7%), MA (28.6%), PMA (17.9%), zolpidem (17.9%) and propofol (14.3%) in the frequency of abuse. In conclusion, most of the ketamine abusers (92.9%) were polydrug abusers, who were concomitantly abusing other controlled substances.

Automated summary

This study evaluated the concentration of ketamine in hair samples from ketamine abusers and found that the majority of them were polydrug abusers, concomitantly using other controlled substances.