Identification of ten corticosteroids in human hair by liquid chromatography-ionspray mass spectrometry

This paper describes a screening procedure based upon high-performance liquid chromatography-ionspray mass spectrometry for the identification of ten corticosteroids in human hair: triamcinolone, prednisolone, prednisone, methylprednisolone, cortisone, cortisol, beta- and dexamethasone, flumethasone and beclomethasone. Hair strands were washed in methylene chloride, pulverized in a ball mill and 50 mg of the powdered hair were incubated in 1 ml Soerensen buffer, pH 7.6 for 16 h at 40 degrees C, in presence of 50 ng cortisol-d3 used as internal standard. Purification of the incubation medium was achieved on SPE C18 Isolute extraction columns. The eluates were evaporated to dryness and resuspended in 30 microliters MeOH before analysis by HPLC-IS-MS in positive and negative modes of detection. The validation parameters were found satisfactory for a corticosteroid screening procedure. The correlation coefficient of the calibration curve ranged from 0.939 to 0.997, showing linearity between 0.1 and 10 ng/mg, excepted for beclomethasone which was between 0.2 and 10 ng/mg. Extraction recovery at 4 ng/mg ranged from 43.2 to 85.7%. Repeatability (CV values) at 4 ng/mg ranged from 6.1 to 17.5%. The limits of detection ranged from 0.03 to 0.17 ng/mg for a signal-to-noise ratio of 2. The detection of prednisone and beclomethasone in three hair specimens obtained from forensic and clinical cases have documented corticosteroids incorporation into human hair.     

中印油气外交:“新大角逐”、“互利互赢”或“独立平行”

近年来,19世纪的口号"大角逐"在国际能源领域再次抬头。但是,西方学者往往选择少数案例来证明油价上升的主要原因是中国与印度的竞争,以及油田的买卖。本文通过对中印竞争、合作与独立购买案例的实证调研,认为双方的竞争与合作案例的数量不仅少,而且两类交易的数量相当,相比之下,平行独立的中印能源外交案例最多。中印两国能源公司都基本遵照市场规律与游戏规则,而且多数能源行动并不属于过时的份额油"大角逐"。     

Wüstenstrom aus der Sahara für die finnische Sauna

Zusammenfassung  Mit der Gründung der Mittelmeer-Union in Paris am 13. Juli 2008 ist ein Thema in das mediale Zentrum der energiepolitischen Debatte gerückt, das bislang eher Insidern bekannt war: Die verst?rkte Nutzung und der Import von Sonnenenergie aus der Mittelmeerregion nach Europa. Der Beitrag stellt das zugrunde liegende soziale, wirtschaftliche und technische Konzept dieser Systeminnovation dar, um anschlie?end Ans?tze für ihre rechtliche Bew?ltigung vorzustellen. Als zentral erweisen sich dabei Instrumente zur gezielten F?rderung effizienter Kraftwerke sowie eine europaweit koordinierte Netzausbauplanung.     

Planned complex suicide: an unusual case

Abstract:  We report an unusual case of planned complex suicide. The victim was a woman aged 67 years, who was found dead in her bath in a state of advanced putrefaction. A plugged-in hairdryer was submerged in the water and the electrical fuses in the room had short-circuited. A kitchen knife lay below the body of the victim, whose left forearm bore incisions suggestive of wrist-cutting. At autopsy, no sign suggesting electrocution could be observed because of the advanced state of putrefaction of the body. Toxicological analysis revealed massive ingestion of tianeptine (blood concentration 15.5 mg/L). Although the exact cause of death could not be determined because of the state of the corpse, meticulous examination of the scene and information obtained from the victim's relatives led to the conclusion of suicide.     

Evaluation of the One-Step ELISA kit for the detection of buprenorphine in urine, blood, and hair specimens

A solid-phase enzyme immunoassay involving microtiter plates was recently proposed by International Diagnostic Systems corporation (IDS) to screen for buprenorphine in human serum. The performance of the kit led us to investigate its applicability in other biological matrices such as urine or blood, and also hair specimens. Low concentrations of buprenorphine were detected with the ELISA test and confirmed by HPLC/MS (buprenorphine concentrations measured by HPLC/MS: 0.3 ng/mL in urine, 0.2 ng/mL in blood, and 40 pg/mg in hair). The intra-assay precision values were 8.7% at 1 ng/mL of urine (n = 8), 11.5% at 2 ng/mL in serum (n = 8), and 11.5% at 250 pg/mg of hair (n = 8), respectively. The immunoassay had no cross-reactivity with dihydrocodeine, ethylmorphine, 6-monoacetylmorphine, pholcodine, propoxyphene, dextromoramide, dextrometorphan at 1 and 10 mg/L, or codeine, morphine, methadone, and its metabolite EDDP. A 1% cross-reactivity was measured for a norbuprenorphine concentration of 50 ng/mL. Finally, the immunoassay was validated by comparing authentic specimens results with those of a validated HPLC/MS method. From the 136 urine samples tested, 93 were positive (68.4%) after the ELISA screening test (cutoff: 0.5 ng/mL) and confirmed by HPLC/MS (buprenorphine concentrations: 0.3-2036 ng/mL). From the 108 blood or serum samples screened, 27 were positive (25%) after the ELISA test with a cutoff value of 0.5 ng/mL (buprenorphine concentrations: 0.2-13.3 ng/mL). Eighteen hair specimens were positive (72%) after the screening (cutoff: 10 pg/mg) and confirmed by LC/MS (buprenorphine concentrations: 40-360 pg/mg). The ELISA method produced false positive results in less than 21% of the cases, but no false negative results were observed with the immunological test. Four potential adulterants (hypochloride 50 mL/L, sodium nitrite 50 g/L, liquid soap 50 mL/L, and sodium chloride 50 g/L) that were added to 10 positive urine specimens (buprenorphine concentrations in the range 5.3-15.6 ng/mL), did not cause a false negative response by the immunoassay.     

Evaluation of nicotine and cotinine in human hair.

To validate data on tobacco use, the authors investigated the use of hair samples for quantifying nicotine and cotinine by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Hair was taken from 22 nonsmokers and 42 smokers, cut close to the scalp at the back of the head. The hair (about 100 mg from each subject) was incubated in 3 mL of 1N NaOH at 100 degrees C for 1 h. After this, the samples were extracted by diethyl ether. The drugs were separated on a 12-m BP-5 capillary column and detected using selected ion monitoring (nicotine, m/z 84; cotinine, m/z 98). Hair from nonsmokers and smokers contains nicotine and cotinine. Although it is difficult to determine an absolute cutoff level, an amount greater than 2 ng of nicotine per milligram of hair can be used to differentiate smokers from nonsmokers. In the population of nonsmokers, the influence of environmental smoke exposure was noted.     

Fatal meprobamate self-poisoning

A case involving a suicidal overdose resulting from the ingestion of 90 tablets (400 mg) of meprobamate is presented. The drug was quantified using a gas chromatograph equipped with a flame ionization detector (FID). While the blood level was 204.6 micrograms/ml, the maximum concentration was found in the heart (708 micrograms/g), confirming the cardiac toxicity of meprobamate. Other drugs were not detected.     

Comparison of the prevalence of alcohol,cannabis and other drugs between 900 injured drivers and 900 control subjects: results of a French collaborative study

A collaborative case-control study was conducted in France in order to determine the prevalence of alcohol, cannabinoids, opiates, cocaine metabolites, amphetamines and therapeutic psychoactive drugs in blood samples from drivers injured in road accidents and to compare these values with those of a control population. Recruitment was performed in emergency departments of six university or general hospitals and comprised 900 drivers involved in a non-fatal accident and 900 patients (controls) who attended the same emergency units for a non-traumatic reason. Drivers and controls were matched by sex and age. Alcohol was determined by flame ionization-gas chromatography, drugs of abuse (DOA) by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with the same analytical procedures in the six laboratories, and medicines by high performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection. Blood alcohol concentration exceeding 0.5 g/l (i.e. the legal French threshold) was found in 26% of drivers and 9% of controls. In the 18-27 years age range, alcohol was the only toxic found in blood samples of 17% drivers and 5% controls, leading to an odds-ratio (OR) of 3.8. A significant relationship was found between alcohol blood concentrations and OR values. All age groups confounded, the main active substance of cannabis, Delta(9) tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), was found in 10% of drivers and 5% of controls. In the less than 27 years old, THC (>1 ng/ml) was detected alone in the blood of 15.3% drivers and of 6.7% controls, giving OR=2.5, whereas there was no link between THC blood concentrations and OR value. THC was found alone in 60% of cases and associated with alcohol in 32%, with OR=4.6 between drivers and controls for this association. The difference in morphine prevalence between drivers (2.7%) and controls (0.03%) was highly significant (P<0.001), with OR=8.2. The number of positive cases for amphetamines and cocaine metabolites was too low for reaching any interpretation. The most frequently observed psychoactive therapeutic drugs were by far benzodiazepines, that were found alone in 9.4% of drivers and 5.8% of controls, which led to OR=1.7 (P<0.01).This study demonstrates a higher prevalence of opiates, alcohol, cannabinoids and the combination of these last two compounds in blood samples from drivers involved in road accidents than in those from controls, which suggests a causal role for these compounds in road crashes.     

A simple gas chromatographic identification and determination of 11 CNS stimulants in biological samples. Application on a fatality involving phendimetrazine

A method is presented for the simultaneous identification and quantification of several CNS stimulants, including amphetamine in plasma and urine by GC/FID using mephentermine as an internal standard. No derivation is necessary and after a single alkaline extraction, GC analysis for the 11 compounds tested is achieved in 23 min. The lower limit of detectability was found to be 4 ng/ml for amphetamine in plasma. This method is sensitive, reproducible, selective and applicable in forensic and clinical toxicological analyses. Toxicological findings, after a fatality involving phendimetrazine are presented as an application of the procedure.     

Fly larvae: a new toxicological method of investigation in forensic medicine

Toxicological analyses on a putrefied cadaver are sometimes difficult to achieve because of the absence of blood and urine. In this study, maggots, living material, are proposed as a new medium of investigation in forensic medicine. Five drugs (triazolam, oxazepam, phenobarbital, alimemazine, and clomipramine) were identified and assayed in some tissues of a putrefied cadaver and in the maggots found on and in the body.