Determination of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine and its five main metabolites in rat urine by solid-phase extraction and high performance liquid chromatography with on line mass spectrometry.

The consumption of psychostimulant amphetamine-like drugs has increased significantly in recent years. Some MDMA metabolites are probably involved in the neurotoxicity and neurodegeneration caused by prolonged use rather than MDMA itself. We recently developed a method to analyze MDMA and its five main metabolites in rat plasma [7].

Determination of ultrafiltrable and exchangeable copper in plasma: stability and reference values in healthy subjects.

The knowledge of copper (Cu) distribution in blood contributes to a better understanding of copper metabolism and to a better approach and follow up of related diseases such as Wilson's disease (WD). Many tests can be used to investigate patients who may have WD but they show many drawbacks and do not allow real patient monitoring. Knowing that the Cu overload can result from the free and easily exchangeable form of copper in plasma, a two-step method (ultrafiltration-determination by ETAAS) was carried out to determine these two fractions.

Plant poisoning outbreak in the western area of Cambodia, 2005.

An outbreak investigation was conducted during February-March 2005 to determine the cause of several sudden deaths occurring in Pailin Province, Cambodia. Sixty-seven patients presented with non-febrile poisoning-like symptoms and 15 died of coma, including 53% children under 10 years old. Symptoms included sore throat (92%), sore lips (73%), swollen tongue (54%) and gastrointestinal signs (41%).

Lithium poisoning: is determination of the red blood cell lithium concentration useful?

Introduction: Despite a narrow therapeutic index, lithium remains a cornerstone for the treatment of bipolar disease. As lithium poisoning may result in life-threatening neurotoxicity, measurement of the lithium concentration is mandatory in drug monitoring as well as for the diagnosis and prognostic evaluation of lithium poisoning. However, toxic symptoms do not always correlate with plasma concentrations.

[What diagnostic tools can be used to assess antenatal exposure to smoking? Toxicologist experience].

Based on a review of the literature and our toxicological experience, we present the diagnostic tools available for the clinician to explore and quantify the degree of ante-natal exposure to active and passive maternal smoking. Two types of tools are used to evaluate this fetal exposure:--Repeated measurement of bio-markers of tobacco smoking enable and evaluation of the specific degree of nicotinic exposure for the pregnant women, the fetus (cord blood), the placenta and the newborn. The total fetal exposure during pregnancy can be extrapolated by combining these data.