Molecular imaging of humain hair with MeV-SIMS: A case study of cocaine detection and distribution in the hair of a cocaine user

PLoS One. 2022 Mar 25;17(3):e0263338. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0263338. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

Human hair absorbs numerous biomolecules from the body during its growth. This can act as a fingerprint to determine substance intake of an individual, which can be useful in forensic studies. The cocaine concentration profile along the growth axis of hair indicates the time evolution of the metabolic incorporation of cocaine usage. It could be either assessed by chemical extraction and further analysis of hair bundels, or by direct single hair fibre analysis with mass spectroscopy imaging (MSI). Within this work, we analyzed the cocaine distribution in individual hair samples using MeV-SIMS. Unlike conventional surface analysis methods, we demonstrate high yields of nonfragmented molecular ions from the surface of biological materials, resulting in high chemical sensitivity and non-destructive characterisation. Hair samples were prepared by longitudinally cutting along the axis of growth, leaving half-cylindrical shape to access the interior structure of the hair by the probing ion beam, and attached to the silicon wafer. A focused 5.8 MeV 35Cl6+ beam was scanned across the intact, chemically pristine hair structure. A non-fragmented protonated [M+ H]+ cocaine molecular peak at m/z = 304 was detected and localized along the cross-section of the hair. Its intensity exhibits strong fluctuations along the direction of the hair's growth, with pronounced peaks as narrow as 50 micrometres, corresponding to a metabolic incorporation time of approx. three hours.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cocaine*
  • Hair / chemistry
  • Hair Analysis
  • Humans
  • Mass Spectrometry
  • Molecular Imaging
  • Substance Abuse Detection / methods

Substances

  • Cocaine

Grants and funding

Work at JSI was supported by the Slovenian research agency grants No. P1-0112, I0-0005, J7-9398 and N1-0090. Additionally, resources and within the EU H2020 project No. 824096 “RADIATE ” and IAEA CRP projects F11019 “Development of Molecular Concentration Mapping Techniques Using MeV Focused Ion Beams" and F11021 ”Enhancing Nuclear Analytical Techniques to Meet the Needs of Forensic Science”. N.O. acknowledges funding by the European Union, European Social Fund, and the support from FP7 European Union Marie Curie IAPP Program, BRAINPATH. A traveling grant for a long stay abroad of E.C was awarded by Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (FWO). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.