Drug accumulation and elimination in Calliphora vicina larvae

Calliphora vicina larvae were fed on drug-laden muscle from three suicides involving amitriptyline, temazepam and a combination of trazodone and trimipramine; triplicate daily harvestings were analysed. The limit of detection for all four drugs was 0.01 μg drug/g larvae. Mean drug concentrations (μg/g) in the initial muscle were: amitriptyline, 2.68; temazepam, 4.04; trazodone, 21.56; and trimipramine, 19.58. Larval rearings for days 4–8 (15 larval samples per drug) had mean and ranges of drug concentrations (μg/g) of 0.10 (r, 0.02–0.24) for amitriptyline; 0.52 (r, 0.26–0.78) for temazepam; 0.13 (r, 0.05–0.32) for trazodone; and 0.28 (r, 0.10–0.59) for trimipramine. After day 8 there was a precipitous fall in larval drug concentrations associated with pupariation. At day 11 ranges of drug concentrations (μg/g) were: amitriptyline, < 0.01-0.01; temazepam, 0.01–0.08; trazodone, < 0.01-0.01; and trimipramine, 0.04-0.04. Day 16 pupae had corresponding ranges (μg/g) of < 0.01, < 0.01-0.01, < 0.01 and < 0.01–0.02. Transfer to drug-free food at day 5 led to similar falls in drug concentrations (μg/g) from day 5 to day 6: 0.08-0.03 for amitriptyline, 0.61-0.09 for temazepam, 0.13-0.01 for trazodone, and 0.30-0.02 for trimipramine. The results show considerable variation in larval drug concentrations, both at the same developmental stage and at different stages of the life cycle, under conditions which closely reflect case situations. In practice, the precipitous decrease in drug concentrations in non-feeding larvae and at pupariation make it desirable to sample only larvae actively feeding on a corpse.