Radioimmunoassay of methaqualone in human urine compared with chromatographic methods

The 125I-radioimmunoassay for methaqualone in human urine was evaluated by a comparison with newly modified gas-liquid chromatographic and thin-layer chromatographic methods. The statistically significant sensitivity value for the radioimmunoassay was at 2 microgram of methaqualone per liter of urine. The coefficient of variation was 2.88 +/- 0.39% interassay and 2.71 +/- 0.16% intraassay. There was cross-reactivity only with metabolites of methaqualone, 4'-hydroxymethaqualone being twice as sensitively measured as methaqualone. There was complete agreement between results by radioimmunoassay and by gas-liquid chromatography in 96.7% of the samples analyzed. Only 1.2% of the radioimmunoassay values were false positives, and 2.1% false negatives (phi = 0.8917, P less than 0.001). Comparisons between the thin-layer chromatographic data and the gas-liquid chromatographic or radioimmunoassay data showed less agreement because of the 50- to 200-fold higher sensitivity of the latter two techniques. Gas-liquid chromatography therefore appears to represent the best reference method for the evaluation of the radioimmunoassay, which appears to be a very sensitive and reliable technique for detecting methaqualone and its metabolites in human urine.