A case of suspected acute and lethal intoxication caused by colchicine has been reported. The woman was hospitalized after her suspicion of suicidal poisoning by a rare autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale). Suspected colchicine poisoning was confirmed using a novel UHPLC method with a modern reversed‐phase stationary phase with a sub 2‐micron superficial porous particle size combined with a QTOF mass spectrometer. Sample preparation procedure included the addition of propiverine as internal standard, protein precipitation using methanol and solid phase extraction. High‐resolution MS only and targeted MS/MS modes are reported for the qualitative analysis and screening of other potential drugs of abuse in blood samples. All Ion MS mode was used for quantitative determination of colchicine afterward. The concentration of colchicine in the blood sample was approximately 41 ng/mL, and more than 200 μg/mL of the plant extract used for the suicide.

Tadalafil is used for the treatment of erectile dysfunction. Its related patents expired in 2016, and so related generic drug production is predicted to be increased. This work is focused on developing a fast ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection and/or mass spectrometry detection for the separation and determination of tadalafil and its impurities in pharmaceutical samples. A modern reversed-phase stationary phase with sub-2 μm particle size, Zorbax StableBond Rapid Resolution High Definition with octylsilane chemically bonded phase to totally porous silica particles, was used for the solving this problem. Column temperature was set at 40 ± 0.1°C. A mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile and aqueous solution of 0.1% (v/v) trifluoroacetic acid for diode array detection detection and 0.05% (v/v) formic acid, both running at a flow rate of 0.62 mL/min, were used to achieve the required separation of all components within a 5 min run. The limit of detection was 3.5 μg/L and the limit of quantification was 10.0 μg/L for the method for both UV and MS detectors. Accurate mass spectra of tadalafil's related impurities are shown for advanced confirmation. The method is directly transferable to routine analysis of tadalafil in pharmaceutical and control laboratories.

The soil bacterial community structure