Validated method for the simultaneous determination of Delta9-THC and Delta9-THC-COOH in oral fluid, urine and whole blood using solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization

A fully validated, sensitive and specific method for the extraction and quantification of Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and 11-nor-9-carboxy-Delta(9)-THC (THC-COOH) and for the detection of 11-hydroxy-Delta(9)-THC (11-OH THC) in oral fluid, urine and whole blood is presented. Solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) technique were used, with electrospray ionization. Three ions were monitored for THC and THC-COOH and two for 11-OH THC. The compounds were quantified by selected ion recording of m/z 315.31, 329.18 and 343.16 for THC, 11-OH THC and THC-COOH, respectively, and m/z 318.27 and 346.26 for the deuterated internal standards, THC-d(3) and THC-COOH-d(3), respectively. The method proved to be precise for THC and THC-COOH both in terms of intra-day and inter-day analysis, with intra-day coefficients of variation (CV) less than 6.3, 6.6 and 6.5% for THC in saliva, urine and blood, respectively, and 6.8 and 7.7% for THC-COOH in urine and blood, respectively. Day-to-day CVs were less than 3.5, 4.9 and 11.3% for THC in saliva, urine and blood, respectively, and 6.2 and 6.4% for THC-COOH in urine and blood, respectively. Limits of detection (LOD) were 2 ng/mL for THC in oral fluid and 0.5 ng/mL for THC and THC-COOH and 20 ng/mL for 11-OH THC, in urine and blood. Calibration curves showed a linear relationship for THC and THC-COOH in all samples (r(2)>0.999) within the range investigated. The procedure presented here has high specificity, selectivity and sensitivity. It can be regarded as an alternative method to GC-MS for the confirmation of positive immunoassay test results, and can be used as a suitable analytical tool for the quantification of THC and THC-COOH in oral fluid, urine and/or blood samples.     

Lethal paradoxical cerebral vein thrombosis due to suspicious anticoagulant rodenticide intoxication with chlorophacinone

Superwarfarin exposure is a growing health problem, described in many countries. The authors report a case of suspicious chlorophacinone poisoning with a problematic diagnosis. They review the literature and discuss particularities of anticoagulant rodenticide intoxication, as well as the apparent contradiction between anticoagulant intoxication and lethal thrombosis.     

Forensic drug intelligence: an important tool in law enforcement

Organised criminality is a great concern for national/international security. The demonstration of complex crimes is increasingly dependant on knowledge distributed within law-enforcement agencies and scientific disciplines. This separation of knowledge creates difficulties in reconstructing and prosecuting such crimes. Basic interdisciplinary research in drug intelligence combined with crime analysis, forensic intelligence, and traditional law enforcement investigation is leading to important advances in crime investigation support. Laboratory results constitute one highly dependable source of information that is both reliable and testable. Their operational use can support investigation and even provide undetected connections or organisation of structure. The foremost difficulties encountered by drug analysts are not principally of a chemical or analytical nature, but methodologies to extract parameters or features that are deemed to be crucial for handling and contextualising drug profiling data. An organised memory has been developed in order to provide accurate, timely, useful and meaningful information for linking spatially and temporally distinct events on a national and international level (including cross-border phenomena). Literature has already pointed out that forensic case data are amenable for use in an intelligence perspective if data and knowledge of specialised actors are appropriately organised, shared and processed. As a particular form of forensic case data, the authors' research focuses on parameters obtained through the systematic physical and chemical profiling of samples of illicit drugs. The procedure is used to infer and characterise links between samples that originate from the same and different seizures. The discussion will not, however, focus on how samples are actually analysed and compared as substantial literature on this topic already exists. Rather, attention is primarily drawn to an active and close collaboration between magistrates, forensic scientists, law enforcement investigators and crime analysts from different institutions with the aim of generating, using and validating relevant profiling case data as integral part of investigative and crime analysis processes. Original advances are highlighted through experiences from criminal investigations of offences related to the unlawful importation, exportation, supply and possession of illicit drugs.     

Allele frequencies for nine STR loci (D3S1358, vWA, FGA, D8S1179, D21S11, D18S51, D5S818, D13S317, D7S820) in the Italian population

Genotype and allele frequencies for STR loci D3S1358, vWA, FGA, D8S1179, D21S11, D18S51, D5S818, D13S317, D7S820 were investigated in 289 unrelated Italian Caucasian individuals from the North and South regions. After co-amplification by polymerase chain reaction, automatic DNA profiling of these nine STR loci was performed by ABI PRISM((R)) 310 DNA Genetic Analyzer. For each locus, statistical parameters for forensic and paternity purposes were then calculated; the combined power of discrimination and the combined power of exclusion of all nine loci were 0.9999999999917 and 0.99992 for the Northern population and 0.9999999999921 and 0.99991 for the Southern population.     

Cocaine profiling for strategic intelligence purposes, a cross-border project between France and Switzerland. Part I. Optimisation and harmonisation of the profiling method

Optimisation and harmonisation of analytical and statistical methodology have been carried out between two forensic laboratories (Lausanne, CH and Lyon, F) in order to provide drug intelligence for cross-border cocaine seizures. The aim was to improve the gas chromatographic analysis of cocaine samples for profiling. Some important validation parameters were tested to verify the developed method and demonstrate its profiling capacity: the selectivity of the method with retention time reproducibility, the choice of a derivatisation agent improving the chromatography (MSTFA, BSA, TMSI and BSTFA+TMCS 1%), the cutting agents influence (matrix effect), the influence of the sample storage conditions and the sample quantity to weigh for analyses. Eight main alkaloids, which represent the sample signature, have been selected: ecgonine methyl ester, ecgonine, tropacocaine, benzoylecgonine, norcocaine, cis- and trans-cinnamoylcocaine and 3,4,5-trimethoxycocaine. Their stability in the solvent used (CHCl(3)/pyridine) was demonstrated. In order to reach the final objective, which is the comparison of samples seized and analyzed in two different laboratories, the harmonisation of the profiling method between the two laboratories had to be ensured and is the subject of ongoing research.     

Bloodstain pattern analysis in a case of fatal varicose vein rupture

Rupture of a varicose vein is a rare cause of sudden death. It occurs when the failure of venous valves causes an increase in venous pressure great enough to provoke rupture of the blood vessel. When it does happen, the victim is often found surrounded by a pool of blood, and the examination of the scene can mislead the forensic team to think of violent death. Until now, the bloodstain patterns in these fatal cases have not been described. An examination of the bloodstain pattern in a case of fatal varicose vein rupture in an 84-year-old man is here reported.     

Virtual autopsy and forensic identification-practical application: a report of one case

The body of an unidentified elderly woman was found trapped in a floodgate. Prior to autopsy, full-body multislice computed tomography (MSCT) was performed for study of bone lesions and cause of death. Age was estimated by analysis of the sternal end of the fourth rib and of the pubic symphyseal medial articular surfaces. The results were then compared with the autopsy findings. MSCT was superior to autopsy in diagnosis of traumatic bone lesions and also revealed dental anomalies and signs of drowning. Age estimation gave a similar result for both methods. This case report illustrates the potential value of MSCT for medico-legal investigations of death: diagnosis of injuries, possibility of determining the cause of death, and anthropological study in order to estimate age or to visualize features likely to enable identification of a corpse.     

Fatal MDMA-intoxication with postmortem diagnosis of hyperthermia

Hyperthermia is one of the main symptoms of the toxic MDMA effect. In a fatal intoxication, the premortal increase in body temperature may lead to a false assessment of the time of death. The problems of drug-induced hyperthermia faced by forensic pathologists and criminal investigators are discussed on the basis of a death from the autopsy material of the Berlin Institute of Legal Medicine (CCM).     

An extreme case of undoing and posing in a case of murder-suicide. A forensic pathological approach to crime scene investigation

A 7-year-old boy was killed by his father by manual strangulation during a murder-suicide. After the killing of the son, the father showed typical "undoing" behaviour: He changed the boy's clothes and laid him down on the bed. Then he placed candles around his head, put pictures of the parents' wedding around him and a crucifix and a picture of the family into his hands. He broke off a rose in a vase next to the bed, lit the candles and took photographs of his dead son. Later he called his wife, threatened to kill the son and finally called the police to confess the murder and to announce his forthcoming suicide.     

Methyl 3-[3',4'-(methylenedioxy)phenyl]-2-methyl glycidate: an ecstasy precursor seized in Sydney, Australia

Five 44 gallon drums labeled as glycidyl methacrylate were seized by the Australian Customs Service and the Australian Federal Police at Port Botany, Sydney, Australia, in December 2004. Each drum contained a white, semisolid substance that was initially suspected to be 3,4-methylenedioxymethylamphetamine (MDMA). Gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC/MS) analysis demonstrated that the material was neither glycidyl methacrylate nor MDMA. Because intelligence sources employed by federal agents indicated that this material was in some way connected to MDMA production, suspicion fell on the various MDMA precursor chemicals. Using a number of techniques including proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H NMR), carbon nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((13)C NMR), GC/MS, infrared spectroscopy, and total synthesis, the unknown substance was eventually identified as methyl 3-[3',4'(methylenedioxy)phenyl]-2-methyl glycidate. The substance was also subjected to a published hydrolysis and decarboxylation procedure and gave a high yield of the MDMA precursor chemical, 3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl-2-propanone, thereby establishing this material as a "precursor to a precursor."