Forensic Assessment of Tramadol Detection: Comparative Analysis of DrugPersistence in Albino Rat Hair Follicles and Serum Samples

Abstract

Drug abuse presents significant challenges to public health and safety, necessitating effectivemethods for detecting and monitoring. Tramadol, a widely used opioid analgesic, has garneredattention due to its abuse potential. Traditional methods of drug detection, such as serumanalysis, may not capture long-term exposure patterns effectively. This study aims to assess the feasibilityof using hair follicles as an alternative matrix for detecting tramadol exposure and to comparethe detection window of tramadol in hair with traditional serum samples. Thirty-two albinoratswere divided into low and high dose groups and exposed to tramadol orally for seven days, whilecontrol groups received water. After euthanasia at various intervals post-exposure, bloodandhairsamples were collected and analyzed for tramadol concentration using spectrophotometricmethod. Results revealed that Serum tramadol levels declined rapidly attaining undetectableconcentration after one week post-exposure, while tramadol concentrations in hair persistedforan extended period, up to the study endpoint with significant detectable concentration evenafterone month. The low dose group exhibited detectable tramadol concentrations across all timepoints post-exposure, while the high dose group showed higher initial concentrations, graduallydecreasing over time. In conclusion, the study highlighted that serum analysis is suitablefordetecting recent tramadol ingestion, whereas hair analysis offers a retrospective assessment ofdrug exposure over longer periods. These findings highlight the complementary nature of serumand hair analyses in tramadol toxicology assessments, providing insights into drug use patternsbeyond the acute phase.