A broad-spectrum LC-MS/MS method for screening and quantification of 100 analytes in clinical and autopsy blood samples.

Liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS) has been tremendously used for screening purposes in forensic toxicology, because of their great adaptability and reasonable time/resource consumption. Herein, a fully validated method based on liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) in human whole blood, by a multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) analysis through LC-MS/MS, is described. The proposed method simultaneously detects 100 analytes (plus three deuterated internal standard compounds) belonging to many different classes, including drugs of abuse, prescription and over-the-counter drugs commonly involved in poisoning and medical malpractice cases in our territory, as well as certain new psychoactive substances (NPS) and toxic substances potentially associated with adverse effects.

Deaths involving novel benzodiazepines in Victoria, Australia from 2018 to 2022.

Novel benzodiazepine (NBz) detections in Victorian coronial cases started early in 2018 and have continued to increase in number and type up to December 2022. The 11 different NBz detections included etizolam (n = 82), flualprazolam (n = 43), clonazolam or 8-aminoclonazolam (n = 30), bromazolam (n = 15), clobromazolam (n = 13), phenazepam (n = 13), flubromazolam (n = 12), flubromazepam (n = 8), desalkylflurazepam (n = 6), diclazepam (n = 2), and estazolam (n = 1). The pattern of detections varied over the 5-year period, with different compounds appearing over different time frames.

The analysis of methylamphetamine and para-hydroxy-methylamphetamine in post-mortem hair samples using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

External contamination is a well-recognized limitation of hair analysis for drugs of abuse like methylamphetamine (MA), and there are no guidelines regarding the analysis of specific metabolites of MA to assist interpretation. We developed an analytical method to detect MA, amphetamine (AMP), and para-hydroxy-methylamphetamine (p-OH-MA) in hair and present their concentrations among a cohort of deceased persons positive for MA in blood (n = 63). Hair samples (≤ 3 cm) were washed with dichloromethane and water prior to extraction using a methanolic micro-pulverization.

Postmortem metabolomics: influence of time since death on the level of endogenous compounds in human femoral blood. Necessary to be considered in metabolome study planning?

Introduction: The (un)targeted analysis of endogenous compounds has gained interest in the field of forensic postmortem investigations. The blood metabolome is influenced by many factors, and postmortem specimens are considered particularly challenging due to unpredictable decomposition processes.

Objectives: This study aimed to systematically investigate the influence of the time since death on endogenous compounds and its relevance in designing postmortem metabolome studies.