Randox Toxicology continues to develop new tests within the ever-changing drugs of abuse market. According to the company, the newly established Randox ELISA test for xylazine is the first immunoassay test in the world for this drug of abuse.
The test will soon be available for the Randox Evidence MultiSTAT.
Designed to work across a variety of matrices including blood, urine, and oral fluid, the Evidence MultiSTAT simultaneously screens for up to 29 drugs of abuse from a single sample in less than 30 minutes.
The United States Drug Enforcement Authority (DEA) recently published a public safety alert about xylazine. Its primary use is as a sedative and analgesic in veterinary medicine for horses, cattle, and other large animals. However, xylazine has been reported as an adulterant in an increasing number of illicit drugs mixtures and detected in a growing number of overdose deaths in the USA, according to the DEA.
“Xylazine is making the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, fentanyl, even deadlier,” says Administrator Milgram. “DEA has seized xylazine and fentanyl mixtures in 48 of 50 States. The DEA Laboratory System is reporting that in 2022 approximately 23% of fentanyl powder and 7% of fentanyl pills seized by the DEA contained xylazine.”
It is commonly encountered in combination with fentanyl but has also been detected in mixtures containing cocaine, heroin, and a variety of other drugs. It is most frequently reported in combinations with two or more substances present. Because xylazine, unlike fentanyl, is not an opioid, naloxone (Narcan) does not reverse its effects. As such this dangerous combination of toxic drugs can lead to fatal accidental overdoses in users.
