How to Conduct Buprenorphine Drug Test

Buprenorphine has medical uses when used under prescription. It is also used for pain relief and detoxification. Buprenorphine is a semi-synthetic opioid and has partial agonist and partial antagonist effects. When taken in low-doses, buprenorphine creates similar effects to opioids. Buprenorphine is abused due to its opioid agonist effects and can cause nausea, drowsiness, respiratory depression, headache, and dry mouth etc. It can be detected effectively with urine drug test. Specimen Collection The specimen needs to be collected in a clean, dry, and unbreakable container without any leaks. To avoid adulteration of sample and for integrity, the specimen collection has to be done under supervision. The integrity of samples is important for effective test results. Urine sample can be collected from any time of the day. Care should be taken that no solid particles are visible in samples. If some solid particles are observed then the sample should be centrifuged, filtered, and allowed to settle down to obtain a clear specimen for testing. If the samples are to be used on a later date, the samples need to be stored at 2-8 degree Celsius for 48 hours or below -20 degree Celsius for longer period. How to Conduct the Test The test strip and urine sample to be tested should be kept at room temperature before testing. After the sample is brought to the room temperature, the test strip should be dipped into the specimen till maximum line for 5 to 10 seconds. Later the test strip should be placed on a non-absorbent flat surface. Test results can be read after 5 minutes when colored lines appear on the Control region [C] and Test region [T] of the test strip. The test results are not to be interpreted after 10 minutes. Interpretation of Results The result is interpreted as negative if one colored line appears in Control region [C] and another line appears in Test region [T]. If the color of line in Test region [T] is faint, the result is negative. A negative result indicates that Buprenorphine is present below cut off concentration of 10 ng/ml. The result is interpreted as positive when a colored line is present in Control region [C] and no line is present in Test region [T]. A positive result indicates that buprenorphine is present above cut off concentration of 10 ng/ml. The results are interpreted as invalid if no line appears in Control region [C] and Test region [T]. The result is also considered as invalid if no line appears in Control region [C] but one line appears in Test region [T]. In case of invalid results, the testing needs to be done with new test strip. A positive result cannot show exact concentration level of drug in specimen and route of administration. Adulterants in urine specimen can give incorrect results irrespective of any analytical method used. Tests should be repeated if any adulteration in samples is noticed. More advanced techniques like Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) can be used for confirmatory purposes as urine tests provide only preliminary analytical results.