scholarly journals Increase in drugs‐of‐abuse findings in post‐mortem toxicology due to COVID‐19 restrictions—First observations in Finland

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Mariottini ◽  
Ilkka Ojanperä ◽  
Pirkko Kriikku
Keyword(s):  
Drugs Of Abuse ◽  
Post Mortem

scholarly journals Forensic NMR metabolomics: one more arrow in the quiver

Metabolomics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emanuela Locci ◽  
Giovanni Bazzano ◽  
Alberto Chighine ◽  
Francesco Locco ◽  
Ernesto Ferraro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drugs Of Abuse ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Metabolic Profiles ◽  
Time Since Death ◽  
Post Mortem ◽  
Nmr Metabolomics ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Metabolic Signatures

Abstract Introduction NMR metabolomics is increasingly used in forensics, due to the possibility of investigating both endogenous metabolic profiles and exogenous molecules that may help to describe metabolic patterns and their modifications associated to specific conditions of forensic interest. Objectives The aim of this work was to review the recent literature and depict the information provided by NMR metabolomics. Attention has been devoted to the identification of peculiar metabolic signatures and specific ante-mortem and post-mortem profiles or biomarkers related to different conditions of forensic concern, such as the identification of biological traces, the estimation of the time since death, and the exposure to drugs of abuse. Results and Conclusion The results of the described studies highlight how forensics can benefit from NMR metabolomics by gaining additional information that may help to shed light in several forensic issues that still deserve to be further elucidated.

scholarly journals Pharmacogenetics and Forensic Toxicology: A New Step towards a Multidisciplinary Approach

Toxics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 292
Author(s):  
Nunzio Di Nunno ◽  
Massimiliano Esposito ◽  
Antonina Argo ◽  
Monica Salerno ◽  
Francesco Sessa
Keyword(s):  
Drugs Of Abuse ◽  
Case Reports ◽  
Forensic Toxicology ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Post Mortem ◽  
Pharmacogenetic Study ◽  
Forensic Practice ◽  
Toxicological Data ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Overdose Deaths

Pharmacogenetics analyzes the individual behavior of DNA genes after the administration of a drug. Pharmacogenetic research has been implemented in recent years thanks to the improvement in genome sequencing techniques and molecular genetics. In addition to medical purposes, pharmacogenetics can constitute an important tool for clarifying the interpretation of toxicological data in post-mortem examinations, sometimes crucial for determining the cause and modality of death. The purpose of this systematic literature review is not only to raise awareness among the forensic community concerning pharmacogenetics, but also to provide a workflow for forensic toxicologists to follow in cases of unknown causes of death related to drug use/abuse. The scientific community is called on to work hard in order to supply evidence in forensic practice, demonstrating that this investigation could become an essential tool both in civil and forensic contexts. The following keywords were used for the search engine: (pharmacogenetics) AND (forensic toxicology); (pharmacogenetics) AND (post-mortem); (pharmacogenetics) AND (forensic science); and (pharmacogenetics) AND (autopsy). A total of 125 articles were collected. Of these, 29 articles were included in this systematic review. A total of 75% of the included studies were original articles (n = 21) and 25% were case reports (n = 7). A total of 78% (n = 22) of the studies involved deceased people for whom a complete autopsy was performed, while 22% (n = 6) involved people in good health who were given a drug with a subsequent pharmacogenetic study. The most studied drugs were opioids (codeine, morphine, and methadone), followed by antidepressants (tricyclic antidepressants and venlafaxine). Furthermore, all studies highlighted the importance of a pharmacogenetics study in drug-related deaths, especially in cases of non-overdose of drugs of abuse. This study highlights the importance of forensic pharmacogenetics, a field of toxicology still not fully understood, which is of great help in cases of sudden death, deaths from overdose, deaths after the administration of a drug, and also in cases of complaint of medical malpractice.

scholarly journals Fatal, Intentional Overdose of Ranolazine: Post-Mortem Distribution of Parent Drug and its Major Metabolite

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rossella Gottardo ◽  
Zeno De Battisti ◽  
Federico Busetti ◽  
Matilde Murari ◽  
Franco Tagliaro
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Liquid Chromatography ◽  
Drugs Of Abuse ◽  
Biological Fluids ◽  
Sodium Current ◽  
Parent Drug ◽  
Major Metabolite ◽  
Post Mortem ◽  
Cardiac Blood ◽  
Femoral Blood

ABSTRACT Purpose Ranolazine is a selective inhibitor of the late inward sodium-current, approved for the treatment of chronic angina. Here, we report a case of a possibly suicidal death due to acute ranolazine overdosing. A 41-year-old woman was found unconscious by her son and was urgently admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. She had ingested an unknown amount of ranolazine tablets. Seventeen hours after admission, the patient died. An autopsy was performed 4 days post-mortem. Methods A routine screening analysis for drugs of abuse and medicinal drugs performed by liquid chromatography ion trap mass spectrometry on autopsy samples of biological fluids did not detect any relevant presence of toxicologically relevant compounds, but ranolazine. A quantitative analysis was then carried out by liquid chromatography- QqQ mass spectrometry in order to quantify ranolazine and its major metabolite O-desmethyl-ranolazine in biological fluids and organs. Results Ranolazine concentrations in biological fluids were as follows: cardiac blood, 19.5 μg/mL; femoral blood, 12.3 μg/mL; bile, 0.87 μg/mL and vitreous humor, 15.4 μg/mL. For O-desmethyl-ranolazine the concentrations in cardiac blood, femoral blood, bile and vitreous were 10.7 μg/mL; 9.6 μg/mL; 11,103 μg/mL and 11.4 μg/mL, respectively. Conclusions The cause of death was attributed to ranolazine overdosing. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a fatality associated with ranolazine, in which the postmortem distribution of ranolazine and its metabolite has been quantitatively assessed. The present study can therefore provide useful information for interpretation of the causes and mechanisms of death in ranolazine associated fatalities.

Optimization of cloned enzyme donor immunoassay cut-offs for drugs of abuse in post-mortem whole blood

2020 ◽  
Vol 312 ◽  
pp. 110291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guido Pelletti ◽  
Francesca Rossi ◽  
Marco Garagnani ◽  
Rossella Barone ◽  
Raffaella Roffi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Whole Blood ◽  
Drugs Of Abuse ◽  
Post Mortem

Ultrastructural investigation of an adenoma of the pituitary post mortem

1987 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 622-623
Author(s):  
Shirley Siew ◽  
W. C. deMendonca
Keyword(s):  
Deleterious Effect ◽  
Anterior Lobe ◽  
Definitive Diagnosis ◽  
Pars Intermedia ◽  
Post Mortem ◽  
Close Apposition ◽  
Autopsy Material ◽  
Progressive Loss ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Means Of Transmission

The deleterious effect of post mortem degeneration results in a progressive loss of ultrastructural detail. This had led to reluctance (if not refusal) to examine autopsy material by means of transmission electron microscopy. Nevertheless, Johannesen has drawn attention to the fact that a sufficient amount of significant features may be preserved in order to enable the establishment of a definitive diagnosis, even on “graveyard” tissue.Routine histopathology of the autopsy organs of a woman of 78 showed the presence of a well circumscribed adenoma in the anterior lobe of the pituitary. The lesion came into close apposition to the pars intermedia. Its architecture was more compact and less vascular than that of the anterior lobe. However, there was some grouping of the cells in relation to blood vessels. The cells tended to be smaller, with a higher nucleocytoplasmic ratio. The cytoplasm showed a paucity of granules. In some of the cells, it was eosinophilic.

Post-mortem Peyer’s patches: Their potential application in forensic medicine

2009 ◽  
Vol 00 (00) ◽  
pp. 090513010017019-7
Author(s):  
Biagio Solarino ◽  
Giancarlo Di Vella ◽  
Thea Magrone ◽  
Felicita Jirillo ◽  
Angela Tafaro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forensic Medicine ◽  
Potential Application ◽  
Peyer's Patches ◽  
Peyer’S Patches ◽  
Post Mortem

Aneurysms in the history of medicine

VASA ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 281-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bollinger ◽  
Rüttimann
Keyword(s):  
History Of Medicine ◽  
Albert Einstein ◽  
Thomas Mann ◽  
Post Mortem ◽  
John Hunter ◽  
History Of

Die Geschichte des sackförmigen oder fusiformen Aneurysmas reicht in die Zeit der alten Ägypter, Byzantiner und Griechen zurück. Vesal 1557 und Harvey 1628 führten den Begriff in die moderne Medizin ein, indem sie bei je einem Patienten einen pulsierenden Tumor intra vitam feststellten und post mortem verifizierten. Weitere Eckpfeiler bildeten die Monographien von Lancisi und Scarpa im 18. bzw. beginnenden 19. Jahrhundert. Die erste wirksame Therapie bestand in der Kompression des Aneurysmasacks von außen, die zweite in der Arterienligatur, der John Hunter 1785 zum Durchbruch verhalf. Endoaneurysmoraphie (Matas) und Umhüllung mit Folien wurden breit angewendet, bevor Ultraschalldiagnostik und Bypass-Chirurgie Routineverfahren wurden und die Prognose dramatisch verbesserten. Die diagnostischen und therapeutischen Probleme in der Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts werden anhand von zwei prominenten Patienten dargestellt, Albert Einstein und Thomas Mann, die beide im Jahr 1955 an einer Aneurysmaruptur verstarben.

Post-Mortem-Versorgung

NOVAcura ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (7) ◽  
pp. 1-60
Keyword(s):  
Post Mortem
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