@article{ref1,
title="Drug analysis in fly larvae",
journal="American journal of forensic medicine and pathology",
year="1993",
author="Pounder, D. J. and Hubbard, S. and Wilson, Z.",
volume="14",
number="2",
pages="118-120",
abstract="We reared larvae of Calliphora vicina on human skeletal muscle obtained from cases of suicidal overdose with co-proxamol (propoxyphene and acetaminophen) and amitriptyline. After 4 days, third-instar larvae were either transferred to drug-free muscle or continued to feed on drug-laden muscle for a further 2 days prior to harvesting. Amitriptyline and nortriptyline were detected in both groups of larvae, but propoxyphene was only in those fed continuously on drug-laden muscle, and acetaminophen was in neither. Drug concentrations in muscle food source were amitriptyline 0.48 microgram/g, nortriptyline 0.38 microgram/g, propoxyphene 0.99 microgram/g, and acetaminophen 14.13 micrograms/g. For triplicate rearings, the mean ratios of drug concentrations in larvae to food source were amitriptyline, 0.56; nortriptyline, 0.5; and propoxyphene, 0.06. In triplicate rearings, no drug or metabolite was detected in puparia, puparial cases, or imagos. We conclude that the absence of a drug in maggots is not necessarily an indication that the drug was not present in significant concentrations in the food source. The malpighian tubules and the &quot;nephrocytes&quot; of fly larvae appear capable of eliminating different drugs with varying efficiency.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0195-7910",
doi="10.1097/00000433-199306000-00002",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00000433-199306000-00002"
}