Urinary screening for midazolam and its major metabolites with the Abbott ADx and TDx analyzers and the EMIT d.a.u. benzodiazepine assay with confirmation by GC/MS.

Midazolam is a short-acting 1,4-imidazole benzodiazepine with sedative-hypnotic, anxiolytic, and amnestic properties. It is administered orally for sleeping disorders and intravenously for sedation during surgery. This drug has a short half-life (1.5-3.5 h), with less than 1% of a midazolam dose being excreted unchanged. The major urinary metabolite is alpha-hydroxy midazolam glucuronide. The objective of this study was to characterize the reactivity of midazolam and its two major metabolites in the EMIT d.a.u. benzodiazepine assay and in the Abbott TDx and ADx urine benzodiazepine assays. Midazolam and alpha-OH midazolam gave an equivalent response to the EMIT low calibrator at 200 ng/mL. On both Abbott analyzers, midazolam and alpha-OH midazolam gave an equivalent net polarization at 500 ng/mL to the Abbott low control. All three screening assays were positive in all of 21 random urine specimens collected from midazolam-treated patients. Confirmation testing was performed by analyzing for alpha-OH midazolam after enzymatic hydrolysis and formation of a TMS derivative for GC/MS. All urine specimens were confirmed positive for alpha-OH midazolam. In conclusion, all three immunoassay screening assays are acceptable for detecting the presence of midazolam metabolites in urine.