Principais adulterantes encontrados em amostras de cocaína apreendidas no Brasil: uma revisão de literatura

Abstract

Cocaine (methylbenzoilecgonine) is the main alkaloid of Erythroxylum coca. It is one of the most widely consumed psychoactive substances in the world and its consumption is highly associated with medical and psychiatric disorders, leading to a variety of health, family, and social problems. While cocaine itself causes consequences, the presence of adulterants in marketed products is also a problem. Such substances are used to imitate or even enhance the effects of cocaine. The objective of this work was to list the main adulterants found in cocaine samples seized in Brazil, as well as to discuss the risks that they can represent to the users through a literature review. It was used the combination of keywords ("Cocaine", "Adulterants", "Brazil" and "Gas Chromatography") in searches in Google Academic, ScienceDirect, Scopus and Web of Science databases. Fifteen articles were selected, in which 33 adulterant substances were identified. Among them, caffeine (13.67%) was the most cited adulterant in the studies, followed by phenacetin and lidocaine (both 10.5%), levamisole (9.5%), benzocaine (6.3%), and aminopyrin (5.3%). Just as there are different pharmacological classes of adulterants, there are different reasons for their addition to cocaine. They are used strategically with the main objective of mimicking or potentiating the action of a drug, making the delivery of the drug more effective and still possessing similar physical properties in relation to the drug. The pharmacological properties and reasons for the use of adulterants in cocaine vary widely. Among them are local anesthetics, analgesics and antipyretics, stimulants, antihelminthics, antihistamines, and antiarrhythmics, mainly potentiating or mimicking the effects of cocaine. The consequences of the mixture of cocaine with adulterants can represent a series of risks to the health of the users. Mainly due to the combined effect of cocaine and adulterants when used in combination which increases the spectrum of toxic effects.