Disposition of citalopram in biological specimens from postmortem cases

Citalopram is a bicyclic phthalate compound approved in 1998 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of depression. It is a highly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor that appears to have little effect on noradrenaline or dopamine reuptake. Since this drug has only recently been released on the U.S. market, information regarding therapeutic, toxic, and lethal concentrations is sparse. This study reports the detection of citalopram in 22 postmortem cases. Citalopram was identified and quantitated by capillary column gas chromatography with nitrogen phosphorus detection after basic liquid-liquid extraction. Confirmation was achieved by full scan electron impact gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. In the 22 cases studied, heart blood citalopram concentrations ranged from 0.09 to 1.64 mg/L (n = 22, mean +/- SD = 0.51+/-0.43, median = 0.34); femoral blood concentrations ranged from 0.09 to 0.76 mg/L (n = 14, mean +/- SD = 0.34+/-0.23, median = 0.28); and urine concentrations ranged from 0.05 to 276.00 mg/L (n = 13). Liver was analyzed in three cases with citalopram concentrations ranging from 2.22 to 8.08 mg/kg. The average heart blood/femoral blood ratio was 1.26 (range 0.75 to 1.98, n = 14). In each case, the cause of death was not considered to be related to citalopram toxicity. These data may therefore provide a basis for establishing post mortem citalopram concentrations following therapeutic doses.     

Women's suffrage campaigns in Britain

Abstract

The British Women's Suffrage Campaign, 1866–1928 HAROLD L. SMITH, 1998 London: Longman. 122 pp., ISBN 0 582 98113, paperback, £6.99     

“Why not love our language and our culture?” National rights and citizenship in Khrushchev's Soviet Union

This paper highlights campaigns for national rights among two non-titular communities in the Soviet Union and places them in local historical contexts. Drawing on archival sources and oral history interviews, the author not only delves into the campaigns themselves, but also explores broader debates about the nature of Khrushchev's Thaw and Soviet citizenship, which was far from an empty concept in the Khrushchev era. Petitioners invoked discourses that indicate both an awareness of national rights and an expectation of the state's obligation to protect them. Oral history interviews with surviving petitioners and community members support the notion that petition language can serve as a reflection of how petitioners viewed their place in Soviet society and interpreted the Soviet citizen contract.