Forensic Analysis Laboratory, Criminalistics Institute, Brazil.
Laboratory of Toxicology, Department of Pharmacy, University of Brasilia, Brazil.
Med Sci Law. 2021 Apr;61(2):97-104. doi: 10.1177/0025802420965006. Epub 2020 Oct 21.
Forensic post-mortem toxicological data provide valuable information for the elucidation of cause of death. However, this is still not routine practice in Brazilian laboratories. This study investigated the presence of illicit and prescription drugs, pesticides and metabolites in 111 post-mortem blood samples from cases investigated by the Forensic Medical Institute of the Federal District, Brazil. Quantitative analysis was performed for 14 analytes using a validated programmed temperature vaporisation-large volume injection-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method, which was also used as screening (qualitative analysis) for an additional 19 substances of forensic interest. At least one analyte was found in 61.2% of the samples, of which 34 were related to homicide, 15 to accidental death and 10 to suicide cases. The victims were 14-72 years old. The benzodiazepines diazepam, midazolam and 7-aminoflunitrazepan were detected in 46% of the positive samples (0.02-1.12 µg/mL; midazolam only qualitative). Cocaine was found in 34% (0.02-4.07 µg/mL), associated with substances commonly used as cocaine adulterants (e.g. caffeine, lidocaine and phenacetin). Three suicide cases involved the illegal rodenticide chumbinho, residues of which were found in the gastric content, and blood samples showed the presence of terbufos (0.03 and 0.04 µg/mL) and carbofuran (27.3 µg/mL). These results are discussed, along with autopsy and crime-scene information.
法医死后毒理学数据为阐明死因提供了有价值的信息。然而，这在巴西的实验室中仍然不是常规做法。本研究调查了巴西联邦区法医研究所调查的 111 例死后血液样本中是否存在非法和处方药物、农药和代谢物。使用经过验证的程序温度蒸发-大体积进样-气相色谱-质谱法对 14 种分析物进行定量分析，该方法还用于另外 19 种法医学感兴趣物质的筛选（定性分析）。在 61.2%的样本中至少发现了一种分析物，其中 34 例与凶杀案有关，15 例与意外死亡有关，10 例与自杀案有关。受害者年龄在 14-72 岁之间。在 46%的阳性样本中检测到苯二氮䓬类药物地西泮、咪达唑仑和 7-氨基氟硝西泮（仅定性分析）（0.02-1.12μg/ml）。在 34%的阳性样本中发现了可卡因（0.02-4.07μg/ml），与可卡因常用的掺杂物（如咖啡因、利多卡因和非那西汀）有关。有 3 例自杀事件涉及非法杀鼠剂 chumbinho，胃内容物中发现了其残留物，血液样本中还检测到特丁福（0.03 和 0.04μg/ml）和克百威（27.3μg/ml）。讨论了这些结果，并结合尸检和犯罪现场信息进行了讨论。
