Citation

Desrosiers NA, Watterson JH, Dean D, Wyman JF. J. Forensic Sci. 2012; 57(2): 544-549.

Affiliation

Forensic Toxicology Research Laboratory, Department of Forensic Science, Laurentian University, 935 Ramsey Lake Road, Sudbury, P3E 2C6 Ontario, Canada. Summit County Medical Examiner's Office, 85 North Summit Street, Akron, OH 44308. Cuyahoga County Regional Forensic Science Laboratory, Cuyahoga County Coroner's, Office, Cleveland, OH 44106.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, American Society for Testing and Materials, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1556-4029.2011.01994.x

PMID

22150755

Abstract

Skeletal remains of a domestic pig were assessed for relative distribution of amitriptyline, citalopram, and metabolites. Following acute exposure and outdoor decomposition for 2 years, drugs and metabolites were analyzed in 13 different bones. Bones were pulverized following a simple wash procedure, and drugs were extracted by passive incubation in methanol, followed by solid-phase extraction. Samples were analyzed by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) and confirmed with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The Kruskall-Wallis test showed that bone type was a main effect with respect to drug level for all analytes, with levels varying from 33- to 166-fold. Ratios of levels of drug to that of the corresponding metabolite were less variable, varying roughly one- to eightfold. This suggests limitations in the interpretive value of drug measurements in bone and that relative levels of drug and metabolites should be further investigated in terms of forensic value.

Language: en