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- Druid, Henrik, et al.
(author)
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Incomplete shored exit wounds : A report of three cases
- 2000
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In: American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology. - : Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health). - 0195-7910 .- 1533-404X. ; 21:3, s. 220-224
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Typical and atypical exit wounds are well described in the forensic literature. Included in the descriptions of atypical exit wounds are perforating, 'shored' exit wounds, in which the perforation of the skin is associated with an abrasion, whether or not the bullet fully exits the body. The authors describe an atypical, incomplete, shored exit wound in which the skin was abraded by supporting material at the site the bullet was recovered, but there was no associated perforation of the skin. Recognition of this injury pattern can be important in reconstruction of the crime scene in relation to the victim at the time of the shooting.
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- Holmgren, Per, et al.
(author)
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Enantioselective analysis of citalopram and its metabolites in postmortem blood and genotyping for CYD2D6 and CYP2C19
- 2004
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In: Journal of Analytical Toxicology. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0146-4760 .- 1945-2403. ; 28:2, s. 94-104
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Citalopram, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, is one of the most commonly found drugs in Swedish forensic autopsy cases. Citalopram is a racemic drug with 50:50 of the S- and R- enantiomers. Enantioselective analysis of citalopram and its metabolites desmethylcitalopram and didesmethylcitalopram were performed in femoral blood from 53 autopsy cases by a chiral high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. The mean (± standard deviation) S/R ratio for citalopram was 0.67 ± 0.25 and for desmethylcitalopram, 0.68 ± 0.20. We found increasing S/R ratios with increasing concentrations of citalopram. We also found that high citalopram S/R ratios were associated with a high parent drug-to-metabolite ratio and may be an indicator of recent intake. Citalopram is metabolized by cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A4, 2C19, and 2D6. Genotyping for the polymorphic CYP2C19 and CYP2D6 revealed no poor metabolizers regarding CYP2C19 and only 2 (3.8%) poor metabolizers regarding CYP2D6. The presence of drugs metabolized by and/or inhibiting these enzymes in several of the cases suggests that such pharmacokinetic interactions are a more important (practical) problem than metabolic deficiency. Enantioselective analysis of citalopram and its metabolites can provide additional information when interpreting forensic toxicology results and might be a necessity in the future.
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- Holmgren, Per, et al.
(author)
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Stability of drugs in stored postmortem femoral blood and vitreous humor
- 2004
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In: Journal of Forensic Sciences. - 0022-1198 .- 1556-4029. ; 49:4, s. 820-825
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The stability of 46 drugs in postmortem femoral blood stored for one year at -20°C was investigated. The drugs included benzodiazepines, antidepressants, analgetics and hypnotics. For seven drugs we found a significant change in the concentration between the first and second analysis. Five substances; ethanol, desmethylmianserin, 7-amino-nitrazepam, THC and zopiclone showed a decrease in the concentration whereas the concentrations of two substances; ketobemidone and thioridazine increased. However, the changes observed were not of such an order that it would affect the interpretation in normal forensic casework. We also investigated the possible influence of potassium fluoride on the concentrations of the 46 drugs in vitreous humor after storage for one year. For two substances, ethanol and zopiclone, there were significantly lower concentrations in the samples without potassium fluoride. Furthermore, we also studied the correlation between the concentrations in femoral blood and vitreous humor. For 23 substances there was a significant difference between the concentrations in the vitreous humor and femoral blood. Significant correlations between the concentrations in these two specimens were found for 23 substances, indicating that vitreous humor can be an alternative specimen when blood samples are not available, provided that such correlation exists for the particular substance. Statistical analysis also revealed a correlation between the degree of protein binding of the different drugs and percentage of vitreous/femoral blood concentrations.
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- Kronstrand, Robert, et al.
(author)
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Screening for drugs of abuse in hair with ion spray LC-MS-MS
- 2004
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In: Forensic Science International. - : Elsevier BV. - 0379-0738 .- 1872-6283. ; 145:02-Mar, s. 183-190
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Analyzing hair for many substances can be tedious and expensive, and a rapid screening method should prove helpful. Generally, screening has been performed using immunological tests, mainly in workplace drug testing, where the number of samples has been high. The aim of this study was to develop an LC-MS-MS method for the simultaneous analysis of several drugs of abuse in human hair as an alternative to immunological screening tests. In 75 randomly selected autopsy cases, hair was analyzed in addition to the usual specimens of blood and urine. The method included nicotine, cotinine, morphine, codeine, 6-acetylmorphine, ethylmorphine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, MDA, MDMA, benzoylecgonine, cocaine, 7-aminoflunitrazepam and diazepam. The LC-MS-MS analysis was performed on a SCIEX API 2000 MS-MS instrument equipped with an electrospray interface. To 20-50 mg of hair, 0.5 ml of mobile phase A (acetonitril:methanol: 20 mM formate buffer, pH 3.0 (10:10:80)) and 25 mul of internal standard were added and the sample was incubated in a water bath at 37degreesC during 18 h. Using a threshold of 20 ng/ sample, equivalent to 1 ng/mg if 20 mg hair is used, 26 positive results were found in 16 cases. Three of the 26 positive detections could not be confirmed by GC-MS. Two of the cases were not previously known as drug users. Of the 59 negative cases, only one case had a positive blood sample showing 0.01 and 0.07 mug/g femoral blood of 6-acetylmorphine and morphine, respectively. This might indicate drug abstinence resulting in decreased tolerance or even a "first time" use of heroin resulting in death. We conclude that the use of hair analysis in postmortem cases can reveal both unknown drug use, as well as confirm a period of drug abstinence prior to an acute fatal overdose. The proposed LC-MS-MS method showed high sensitivity, was very easy to perform and seemed appropriate for screening purposes.
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- Kugelberg, Fredrik, 1974-, et al.
(author)
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Codeine and morphine blood concentrations increase during blood loss
- 2003
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In: Journal of Forensic Sciences. - 0022-1198 .- 1556-4029. ; 48:3, s. 664-667
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- During extensive blood loss, a plasma volume refill will take place by transfer of extravascular fluid into the circulation. Drugs present in this fluid may follow and cause a rise or a drop in blood drug concentration, depending on their levels and accessibility in the restoration fluid. This study explored the possible changes of codeine, and its metabolite morphine, in whole blood during a standardized exsanguination in the rat. Three doses containing 5 mg codeine were given orally. In eight rats, blood loss was accomplished by slowly withdrawing 0.8 mL blood at 10 min intervals during 70 min. In control rats, blood was withdrawn only at 0 and 70 min. At 70 min, the final/initial codeine and morphine concentration ratios were 0.70 +/- 0.38 and 0.88 +/- 0.47, respectively, in controls, but increased to 1.28 +/- 0.44 (p=0.014) and 1.41 +/- 0.34 (p=0.021), respectively, in exsanguinated rats. It is concluded that blood loss can affect blood drug concentrations.
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- Kugelberg, Fredrik, 1974-, et al.
(author)
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Postmortem redistribution of the enantiomers of citalopram and its metabolites : an experimental study in rats
- 2004
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In: Journal of Analytical Toxicology. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0146-4760 .- 1945-2403. ; 28:8, s. 631-637
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A rat model was used to study if postmortem redistribution of the S- and R-enantiomers of citalopram (CIT) and its metabolites demethylcitalopram (DCIT) and didemethylcitalopram (DDCIT) occurs after three different subcutaneous dosing procedures with racemic CIT. Two groups underwent chronic administration (20 mg/kg daily) using osmotic pumps. After 10 days, 1 of these groups received an acute-on-chronic drug challenge with a single injection of 100 mg/kg. The third group received the single 100 mg/kg dose only. Heart blood and brain samples were collected antemortem and 1, 3, or 24 h postmortem for enantioselective HPLC analysis. Increased postmortem blood drug and metabolite concentrations compared with corresponding antemortem concentrations were observed in all groups (p < 0.05 to p < 0.001). At 24 h after death, the ratios between postmortem and antemortem blood concentrations were around 3–4 for CIT as well as for the metabolites. In the brain, no major differences between antemortem and postmortem drug and metabolite concentrations were observed. The enantiomeric (S/R) concentrations ratios of CIT and metabolites in blood and brain were of similar magnitude before and after death. No differences between antemortem and postmortem parent drug-to-metabolite (P/M) ratios for CIT/DCIT in blood were observed. Finally, this animal model demonstrates that the S- and R-enantiomers of CIT and its metabolites were redistributed to the same extent postmortem.
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