Citation

Maraschi F, Sturini M, Speltini A, Orio F, Profumo A, Pierucci G. Anal. Biochem. 2012; 426(2): 142-146.

Affiliation

Department of Chemistry, University of Pavia, via Taramelli 12, 27100 Pavia, Italy.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.ab.2012.04.024

PMID

22542976

Abstract

Presented hereafter are the first results demonstrating that total silicon trace concentration in human ventricular whole blood may be used as a further marker in the diagnosis of drowning. The difference in silicon content between the left and the right ventricle resulted significantly higher for drowning cases than that from individuals who had not drowned. These findings were in full agreement with autoptic responses, supporting silicon as a marker of freshwater drowning. The procedure entails an alkaline microwave-assisted digestion using tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) in presence of H(2)O(2) followed by DRC-ICP-MS detection, whose accuracy was obtained for Seronorm whole blood reference material. Satisfying recoveries (91-98%) were gained on whole ventricular blood, with a silicon content lower than method detection limit (MDL), spiked at 5-7 μg g(-1) with materials consistent with drowning media constituents, i.e. fresh water plankton (CRM 414), silicon dioxide, diatomaceous earth powder and a silicon standard solution. Good within-lab reproducibility (4-10%) and sensitivity (MDL 0.46 μg g(-1)) were achieved too. The procedure has been applied to blood samples from 18 different real cases of death.

Language: en