0000000000043151
AUTHOR
Rainer Mattern
Postmortem distribution of dihydrocodeine and metabolites in a fatal case of dihydrocodeine intoxication.
A report of a fatal dihydrocodeine ingestion under substitution therapy is given. Quantitation of dihydrocodeine, dihydromorphine, N-nordihydrocodeine, dihydrocodeine-6-, dihydromorphine-6- and dihydromorphine-3-glucuronide was performed simultaneously after solid-phase extraction prior to HPLC analysis, and the analytes were detected using their native fluorescence. Postmortem concentrations of blood samples from different sampling sites as well as from liver, kidney and cerebrum are reported. A hair sample was investigated to prove long-term use of the substitute drug. Site-to-site differences of the analytes from blood samples were very small. The partition behavior of the opioid glucuro…
Diseases of the vertebral arteries.
Case reports and postmortem neuropathological findings of a wide spectrum of diseases affecting the vertebral arteries, in particular vasculitis, traumatic lesions, degenerative changes and congenital abnormalities, are discussed.
Freie und glucuronidierte Cannabinoide im Urin - Untersuchungen zur Einschätzung des Konsumverhaltens
Spontanurinproben (n = 135) von ¶49 Cannabiskonsumenten wurden auf freie und glucuronidierte Tetrahydrocannabinolcarbonsaure (THCCOOH) mittels LC/MS/MS sowie auf freies und glucuronidiertes Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) und 11-Hydroxytetrahydrocannabinol (11-OH-THC) mittels GC/MS direkt sowie nach enzymatischer Hydrolyse bis zu 10 Tagen nach dem letztmaligen Konsum untersucht. Die Einteilung des Konsumverhaltens erfolgte in schwer, moderat und leicht und orientierte sich an den Zuordnungskriterien neuerer, einschlagiger Publikationen. Die Konzentrationsangaben fur freie und glucuronidierte THCCOOH wurden auf 100 mg Kreatinin/dL Urin bezogen. In den Konsumentengruppen schwer, moderat und leicht…
Zur präanalytischen Phase chemisch-toxikologischer Untersuchungen
Urin, ein bevorzugtes Untersuchungsmaterial fur ein Drogenscreening, ist haufiger als andere biologische Proben Manipulationen unterworfen. Da sich in jungster Zeit ein regelrechter Wettstreit zwischen Suchtmittelkonsument und Analytik entwickelt hat, wurden die wichtigsten Informationen zu dieser Thematik zusammengestellt. Als bedeutendste in-vivo Manipulation wird die Aufnahme groser Flussigkeitsmengen erachtet, und zur Erkennung einer Verdunnung des Urins wird die Bestimmung des Kreatininwertes empfohlen. Die Aussagekraft dieses Parameters an Spontanurinproben wird diskutiert, und Alternativen beim Vorliegen niedriger Kreatininwerte werden diskutiert.
A preliminary study on the stability of benzodiazepines in blood and plasma stored at 4 degrees C.
An approach to determine the stability of benzodiazepines and some of their metabolites (n = 13) by means of a routinely applied gas chromatographic method using electron capture detection was made in this preliminary study. Validation data of the method are given. Spiked blood and plasma samples were stored at 4 degrees C and analysed at selected times up to 240 days. The concentrations of all analytes had decreased to at least 60% of the original levels at the end of the observation period. A clear pattern of breakdown could not be established. The data obtained suggest that results from long-term stored samples should be interpreted cautiously. Further investigations concerning the stabi…
Short-Term Stability of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD), N-Desmethyl-LSD, and 2-Oxo-3-hydroxy-LSD in Urine, Assessed by Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is one of the most potent hallucinogenic agents known. Recently, data on emergency department episodes related to the use of drugs commonly thought as “club drugs” have also included LSD (1). Confirmation of LSD use by testing biological fluids is still an analytical challenge because of its extensive, rapid metabolism and its instability (2)(3)(4). After ingestion of a typical street dose (40–120 μg), the concentration of LSD in urine falls to <1 μg/L within a few hours (2)(5)(6). Recently, N -desmethyl-LSD (nor-LSD) and 2-oxo-3-hydroxy-LSD (O-H-LSD) have been identified as LSD metabolites in human urine (7)(8). Measured nor-LSD concentrations were reported…
A preliminary study on the distribution of morphine and its glucuronides in the subcompartments of blood.
[Abstract ] The distribution of morphine, morphine-3-glucuronide (M3G), and morphine-6-glucuronide (M6G) in whole blood, plasma, and packed erythrocytes was studied. Parameters investigated were the hematocrit values (10, 42, 44, and 71%) and the water content of the samples. The blood-to-plasma ratio of morphine concentrations was unaffected by variations in hematocrit and water content, whereas the corresponding ratios for M3G and M6G were strongly influenced. Ratios were 0.53 to 0.65 and 0.52 to 0.62 in specimens with average hematocrit values (42 and 44%, respectively), and the ratios were 0.81 or 0.89 (hematocrit 10%) and 0.27 or 0.28 (hemalocrit 71%) in blood samples with different he…
Stability of Morphine, Morphine-3-Glucuronide, and Morphine-6-Glucuronide in Fresh Blood and Plasma and Postmortem Blood Samples
The present study was designed to determine the stability of morphine and its glucuronides in spiked fresh blood and plasma from live individuals as well as in four authentic postmortem blood specimens for a time interval of up to six months. The samples were stored in glass vials at -20 degrees C, 4 degrees C, and 20 degrees C. Additionally, spiked samples were exposed to light through window glass and subjected to a forced-degradation study at 40 degrees C. Data were established using solid-phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometry for isolation and quantitation, providing a sensitive and specific detection met…
Saliva testing after single and chronic administration of dihydrocodeine.
In the present study, concentrations of dihydrocodeine and its metabolites in saliva and serum were compared after single low-dose and chronic high-dosage administration of the drug. In the first investigation, blood and saliva were collected periodically from six subjects after oral administration of 60 mg dihydrocodeine. In the second study, 20 subjects on oral dihydrocodeine maintenance provided single samples of blood and saliva simultaneously. Serum protein binding of salivary analytes and their recovery from the adsorbing material of the collection device as well as pH values of saliva samples were determined. The fluids were analyzed for dihydrocodeine and the major metabolites by hi…