The Stability of Some Drugs and Poisons in Putrefying Human Liver Tissues

Stevens, Henry

doi:10.1016/s0015-7368(84)72350-4

Cited by 55 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Morphine may be converted to pseudomorphine in cadavers and found as such after exhumation [5]. Morphine was found to be stable in macerated liver when stored in sealed containers for a short period of time at ambient temperature [6]. A false positive morphine in putrefied tissue due to the presence of putrefactive products has been reported [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stability of morphine and buprenorphine in whole blood

Hadidi

Oliver

1998

International Journal of Legal Medicine

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Delays between time of sampling and time of toxicological analysis are common, therefore the length of time that postmortem blood can be stored at various temperatures (e.g. 4 degrees, 25 degrees, -20 degrees C) was evaluated for the effect on the stability of morphine and buprenorphine from day one up to one year. Solid phase extraction and GC-MS were used for the isolation and quantification of the drugs. Morphine and buprenorphine were found to be very stable for up to 6 months under these storage conditions, where at least 85% and 77% of morphine and buprenorphine respectively, were recovered. The study showed that a reasonable amount of the drugs (not less than 70%) was still detectable after one year of storage regardless of the temperature when blood samples were stored in silanized glass vessels.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stability of morphine and buprenorphine in whole blood

Hadidi

Oliver

1998

International Journal of Legal Medicine

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“…1) [43]. In a study performed in 1984 with spiked liver tissue contaminated with fecal matter and blow-flies, morphine was found to be stable [44]. While it has been reported that morphine can undergo oxidative degradation when exposed to light for lengthy periods of time, this is unlikely to be an issue in regards to post-mortem toxicology [43].…”

Section: Heroin and Morphinementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Norchlordiazepoxide was initially converted to demoxepam, which then further degraded to form nordiazepam-both of which are produced ante-mortem in the body during metabolism [52]. In the work by Stevens using putrefying liver tissue, demoxepam was again found to be converted to nordiazepam, with chlordiazepoxide forming a desoxy-product [44]. In this work, it was also found that clonazepam and nitrazepam were degraded to their 7-amino-metabolites, while diazepam and flurazepam were found to be stable [44].…”

Section: Benzodiazepinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the work by Stevens using putrefying liver tissue, demoxepam was again found to be converted to nordiazepam, with chlordiazepoxide forming a desoxy-product [44]. In this work, it was also found that clonazepam and nitrazepam were degraded to their 7-amino-metabolites, while diazepam and flurazepam were found to be stable [44]. Further work in 1986 utilising liver tissue with chlordiazepoxide indicated that it and norchlordiazepoxide are putrefactively degraded to their desoxy-analogues rather than demoxepam, and that the two desoxy-products and demoxepam all degrade to form nordiazepam, as seen in Fig.…”

Section: Benzodiazepinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The influence of putrefaction and sample storage on post-mortem toxicology results

Butzbach

2009

Forensic Sci Med Pathol

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There are numerous biochemical and biological processes that occur after death that may have a significant influence on post-mortem drug concentrations. These processes may render the quantification of particular drugs unreliable, or even result in drugs being undetectable in some instances, despite the use of several methods. Problems may occur with changes in the drug concentration via bacterial degradation, residual tissue enzymatic activity, or via post-mortem redistribution from tissues of a higher to a lower concentration. Many analytical techniques can suffer from interferences due to co-extracted putrefactive compounds that mask or alter the way a drug is detected, depending on the analytical technique utilised. The following paper reviews problems associated with post-mortem drug concentration changes, and the significance of microbial influences during the post-mortem interval and sample storage.

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“…It is well established that nitrobenzodiazepienes, such as NZ, are readily converted to the corresponding 7-amino-metabolites by bacteria. [14][15][16] Most of bacteria contain an oxygensensitive enzyme capable of reducing nitroaromatic compounds into the corresponding amines, and such bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract is the most important site of the reduction of nitrobenzene in humans. 17,18) Robertson and Drummer demonstrated that NZ was completely converted to 7- aminonitrazepam within 240 min at 22°C in the postmortem blood specimen from a cadaver 48 hr after death, where various kinds of enteric bacteria were detected.…”

Section: Effectiveness Of the Kit In Preventing The Decomposition Of Nzmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of an Aseptic Urine Collection Kit and its Evaluation in Preventing the Bacterial Decomposition of Nitrazepam

Zaitsu

Miki

Katagi

et al. 2006

JOURNAL OF HEALTH SCIENCE

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A novel aseptic urine collection kit has been devised, and its effectiveness in collecting and storing bacteria-free urine specimens was evaluated. The kit, which is based on filtration sterilization, was proven effective for these purposes. For the evaluation of its efficiency, urine samples spiked with nitrazepam at 0.5 µg/ml were treated with the kit and monitored for 6 months at 4°C and 25°C. An automated column-switching liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) procedure was utilized for the direct determination of the analyte in urine. In severelycontaminated urine with bacteria, there were significant losses of nitrazepam at 25°C. However, such degradation was successfully suppressed by the use of the kit even at a storage temperature of 25°C, while requiring no chemical additives.

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The Stability of Some Drugs and Poisons in Putrefying Human Liver Tissues

Cited by 55 publications

References 10 publications

Stability of morphine and buprenorphine in whole blood

Stability of morphine and buprenorphine in whole blood

The influence of putrefaction and sample storage on post-mortem toxicology results

Development of an Aseptic Urine Collection Kit and its Evaluation in Preventing the Bacterial Decomposition of Nitrazepam

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