Citation

Morini L, Vignali C, Tricomi P, Groppi A. J. Forensic Sci. 2015; 60(5): 1383-1386.

Affiliation

Department of Public Health, Forensic and Experimental Medicine, University of Pavia, Via Forlanini 12, 27100, Pavia, Italy.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, American Society for Testing and Materials, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/1556-4029.12815

PMID

26258895

Abstract

The body of a 30-year-old woman was found in Como lake at a depth of about 120 meters in her own car after 3 years of immersion. The aim of this study was to evaluate psychoactive drugs as well as alcohol biomarkers in biological matrices. The following analyses were initially performed: GC-MS systematic toxicological analysis on biological fluids and tissues; GC-MS analysis of drugs of abuse on pubic hair; direct ethanol metabolite determination in pubic hair by LC-MS/MS. After 7 years, the samples, that had been stored at -20°C, were re-analyzed and submitted to an LC-MS/MS targeted screening method, using multiple reaction monitoring mode. These analyses detected citalopram (150-3000 ng/mL), desmethylcitalopram (50-2300 ng/mL), clotiapine (20-65 ng/mL), and ethyl glucuronide (97 pg/mg). The methods showed an acceptable reproducibility, and the concentrations of citalopram and desmethylcitalopram calculated through the two analytical techniques did not significantly differ in biological fluids.

Language: en