Frequency of postmortem ethanol formation in blood, urine and vitreous humor – Improving diagnostic accuracy with the use of ethylsulphate and putrefactive alcohols

Oshaug, Katja; Kronstrand, Robert; Kugelberg, Fredrik C.; Kristoffersen, Lena; Mørland, Jörg; Høiseth, Gudrun

doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2021.111152

Cited by 10 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Another dimension to the discussion about PM alcohol formation was brought by Oshaug et al (2022), however, without focusing on drowning cases. They carried out complementary analyses of the putrefaction alcohols (PA) 1‐propanol and 1‐butanol in blood, as these findings suggest that detected BAC values were partly or fully caused by PM formation.…”

Section: Pm Changes Of Alcohol and Drugs In Submerged Bodiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of postmortem toxicology in drowning investigations

Ojanperä,

Kriikku

2023

WIREs Forensic Science

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Drowning is the third most common cause of unintentional injury death worldwide. In forensic medicine, drowning refers to an event in which the victim dies due to liquid penetrating into the airways or due to submersion in a liquid. Medico‐legal examination of bodies found in water is a challenging task. Establishing proper cause and manner of death requires the joint efforts of the police, medical examiner, and representatives of postmortem toxicology. Information of the circumstances, the victim's individual characteristics and medical background, together with postmortem findings is required. The presence of alcohol and drugs revealed by postmortem toxicology can give insight into the decedent's medical history, drug abuse history, and possible impairment at the time of death. There is ample epidemiological research indicating that alcohol is the most important single contributing factor for fatal drowning, while hypno‐sedative medicines and illicit drugs, especially amphetamines, also appear to pose a risk. Evidence shows that alcohol can be produced postmortem in a submerged body by microbial contamination and fermentation, and this phenomenon is even more significant the higher the water temperature and the longer the submersion time. The reliability of the blood alcohol concentration obtained can be verified in many ways, for example by comparing the ratios of blood, vitreous and urine alcohol concentrations with reference values, or by testing for non‐oxidative ethanol metabolites, the presence of which suggests antemortem alcohol ingestion. Compared to alcohol postmortem changes, very little is known about the long‐term stability of drugs in bodies found in water.This article is categorized under: Toxicology > Analytical Toxicology > Post‐Mortem

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Section: Pm Changes Of Alcohol and Drugs In Submerged Bodiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of postmortem toxicology in drowning investigations

Ojanperä,

Kriikku

2023

WIREs Forensic Science

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“…In such cases, the interpretation of relative results may present limitations and complexities mainly due to the postmortem ethanol neo-formation (which is actually microbial ethanol production) [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ] at the interval from death up to the analysis of the sample. To achieve a feasible accuracy in interpreting the postmortem ethanol analysis results and in defining the origin (whether it is a result of antemortem consumption or postmortem microbial production or both) of the measured ethanol, various factors have been evaluated [ 5 , 10 , 11 ], such as the putrefaction state of the cadaver at autopsy, the clinical history of the deceased, the determination of non-oxidative metabolites of ethanol, the identification of microbes in the analyzed sample, and the evaluation of the discrepancies between ethanol concentration from various sampling sites and from different specimens [ 5 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. Furthermore, the detection of low-molecular-weight volatiles in postmortem specimens was related to the microbial ethanol neo-formation [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethanol and Higher Alcohols’ Production in Fungal and Bacterial Laboratory Cultures and Significance for Forensic Samples

Boumba,

Velivasi,

Kourkoumelis

2024

Microorganisms

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Ethanol can be produced by many microorganisms that colonize a dead body. Ethanol’s concentration depends on the congener higher alcohols, 1-propanol, isobutanol, 2-methyl-1-butanol, 3-methyl-1-butanol, and 1-butanol, as previous research has shown. This correlation is expressed by mathematical models which estimate the concentration of microbial ethanol. The aim of this contribution was to study the ethanol and higher alcohols’ production in various laboratory bacterial and fungal cultures and the applicability of the bacterial and fungal models (which concern the bacteria E. coli, S. aureus, K. pneumoniae, and E. faecalis, and the fungus C. albicans) in these samples, as well as in blood samples from autopsy cases, with the overall objective of investigating the models’ applicability in routine casework. The bacteria and fungus were cultured in conventional culture media and in denatured human blood cultures under various conditions. The alcohols’ concentrations were determined using a head space–gas chromatography–flame ionization detector (HS-GC-FID). The previously reported bacterial and yeast models were applied in the cultured samples and in blood from 122 autopsy cases. Our results showed that 1-propanol was not produced by C. albicans and E. faecalis under certain conditions. Also, 1-butanol was not produced by C. albicans, E. faecalis, and K. pneumonia under certain conditions. Furthermore, the bacterial models were applicable in postmortem samples irrespective of the microbes that were possibly activated in the sample, while the EC models showed the best applicability among all the bacterial and yeast models. The best applicability of the bacterial models was observed in autopsy blood with 0.10 g/L < BAC < 1.0 g/L in cases of violent and undetermined causes of death and in cases with putrefaction. Finally, the yeast models were applicable in limited, possibly special, autopsy cases. In conclusion, it could be inferred that the source of ethanol in any given postmortem blood sample is likely microbial if either most bacterial models or at least one model from each distinct bacterial species is successfully applicable.

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Alcohol: Postmortem Findings - Acute and Chronic

Jones

2024

Reference Module in Social Sciences

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Frequency of postmortem ethanol formation in blood, urine and vitreous humor – Improving diagnostic accuracy with the use of ethylsulphate and putrefactive alcohols

Cited by 10 publications

References 31 publications

Role of postmortem toxicology in drowning investigations

Role of postmortem toxicology in drowning investigations

Ethanol and Higher Alcohols’ Production in Fungal and Bacterial Laboratory Cultures and Significance for Forensic Samples

Alcohol: Postmortem Findings - Acute and Chronic

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