TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2019//
TI  - Distribution of quetiapine and metabolites in biological fluids and tissues
JO  - Forensic science international
A1  - Vignali, Claudia
A1  - Freni, Francesca
A1  - Magnani, Camilla
A1  - Moretti, Matteo
A1  - Siodambro, Chiara
A1  - Groppi, Angelo
A1  - Osculati, Antonio Marco Maria
A1  - Morini, Luca
SP  - e110108
EP  - e110108
VL  - 307
IS  - 
N2  - Quetiapine is an atypical antipsychotic drug for the treatment of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorders and sometimes as a sleep aid. It is frequently found in post-mortem samples. The quantitative determination of active metabolites may help in the interpretation of the potential toxic effects of the parent drug and its role in death. A fully validated LC-MS/MS method was developed for the identification and quantification of quetiapine and two main metabolites (N-desalkylquetiapine and 7-hydroxyquetiapine) in blood, biological fluids and tissues. Then, the distribution of analytes in different matrices was evaluated. LODs of 0.9, 0.3 and 0.3ng/mL were calculated for quetiapine, N-desalkylquetiapine and 7-hydroxyquetiapine respectively; while a LOQ at the concentration of 10.0ng/mL was defined for the three analytes. 13 post-mortem positive real cases have been included in the experiment. The results revealed that quetiapine and N-desalkylquetiapine might undergo a significant post-mortem redistribution, while 7-hydroxyquetiapine is less affected by this factor. N-desalkylquetiapine could be found in blood in relatively high concentrations in comparison to those of quetiapine; therefore, it should be always advisable to measure both the analytes. The analysis of tissues could provide additional data on potential intoxication with quetiapine.<br><br>Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier B.V.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0379-0738
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2019.110108
ID  - ref1
ER  -