Ethylene glycol poisoning

A 40-year-old man was admitted to the emergency department after a suicide attempt. The patient was found at home unconscious, with an open bottle of antifreeze near him. The patient was in a coma on admission, but neurological examination excluded intracranial changes. Results of initial urine and serum toxicological screening tests were negative. Laboratory values indicated metabolic acidosis, leukocytosis, urinalysis revealed hematuria and unrecognized crystals. Osmolality and osmol gap were not determined on patient admission. Treatment with ethanol as an antidote and hemodialysis were started because of metabolic acidosis, anamnestic data and clinical status of the patient, and subsequently led to improvement of his condition. Further toxicological analyses of glycolic and oxalic acids in serum and urine samples were performed by ion-chromatography (IC) method and showed high values in spot urine and serum ultrafiltrate at admission, but during therapy the values progressively decreased. Treatment of poisoned patient for 3 weeks resulted in complete recovery.     

The effect of antifreeze (ethylene glycol) on the survival and the life cycle of two species of necrophagous blowflies (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

Entomotoxicology involves the analysis of the presence and the effects of toxicological substances in necrophagous insects. Results obtained by entomotoxicological studies may assist in the investigation of both the causes and the time of death of humans and animals. Ethylene glycol (EG) is easy to purchase, sweet and extremely toxic. It may be consumed accidentally or purposefully, in an attempt to cause death for suicidal or homicidal intent. Several cases report fatalities of humans and animals. The present study is the first to examine the effects of EG on the survival, developmental rate and morphology of two blowfly species, (Diptera: Calliphoridae) typically found on corpses and carcasses: Lucilia sericata (Meigen) and L. cuprina (Wiedemann). Both species were reared on substrates (beef liver) spiked with three different concentrations of EG that could cause death in either a human or cat: 1/2LD₅₀ (T1), LD₅₀ (T2), 2LD₅₀ (T3), in addition to a control treatment (C) with no EG.Results of this research show that: a) both species are unable to survive if reared on a food substrate spiked with the highest concentration of EG (T3), while lower and medium concentrations (T1, T2) affect, but not prevent, the survival and the completion of the life cycle of such species; b) adults of L. sericata eclose only in C and T1, while adults of L. cuprina in both C, T1, T2; however, c) the developmental time of both species reared in T1 and T2 is statistically slower than the control; d) the body length of the immatures of both of the species reared in T1 and T2 is statistically smaller than the control.     

环氧乙烷消杀DNA污染效果初探

目的初探环氧乙烷消杀DNA污染的效果。方法收集98例分别含有唾液、皮屑、汗斑、毛发、血斑、肋软骨的法医物证样本,分两组进行环氧乙烷灭菌6h和8h,提取DNA后扩增,使用3130XL或3500XL测序仪检测进行STR分型。结果 EO 6h组44例样本中有2例口腔拭子检出阳性结果,EO 8h组54例样本中有1例毛发检出阳性结果,阳性样本STR图谱表明仅有少量DNA残留,其余生物样本未检测到STR图谱。结论环氧乙烷能有效消杀DNA污染,可适用于DNA检验耗材的灭菌。