Liquid chromatography/photodiode array detection for determination of strychnine in blood: a fatal case report

An original liquid chromatography method with photodiode-array detection (DAD) is presented for the determination of strychnine in blood. This sensitive method allows the use of only 0.1 ml of sample. The strychnine was isolated from blood using a liquid-liquid extraction procedure and chloroquine as an internal standard. The limits of detection (LOD) and quantification were 0.06 and 0.5 mg/l, respectively. The recovery was 94% and the coefficients of variation (CV) ranged from 5.9 to 10.8%. A fatal case of strychnine poisoning is presented, with a lethal blood concentration of 25 mg/l.