Citation

Bévalot F, Cartiser N, Bottinelli C, Fanton L, Guitton J. Forensic Toxicol. 2016; 34(1): 12-40.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s11419-015-0294-5

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Vitreous humor (VH) is a gelatinous substance contained in the posterior chamber of the eye, playing a mechanical role in the eyeball. It has been the subject of numerous studies in various forensic applications, primarily for the assessment of postmortem interval and for postmortem chemical analysis. Since most of the xenobiotics present in the bloodstream are detected in VH after crossing the selective blood-retinal barrier, VH is an alternative matrix useful for forensic toxicology. VH analysis offers particular advantages over other biological matrices: it is less prone to postmortem redistribution, is easy to collect, has relatively few interfering compounds for the analytical process, and shows sample stability over time after death. The present study is an overview of VH physiology, drug transport and elimination. Collection, storage, analytical techniques and interpretation of results from qualitative and quantitative points of view are dealt with. The distribution of xenobiotics in VH samples is thus discussed and illustrated by a table reporting the concentrations of 106 drugs from more than 300 case reports. For this purpose, a survey was conducted of publications found in the MEDLINE database from 1969 through April 30, 2015. © 2015, The Author(s).

Language: en

Keywords

human; suicide; autopsy; sampling; forensic toxicology; cocaine; survival time; barbituric acid derivative; drug intoxication; priority journal; opiate; nonhuman; benzodiazepine derivative; drug fatality; drug misuse; 3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine; accidental death; analytic method; tissue distribution; blood level; insulin; Article; active transport; recreational drug; vitreous body; xenobiotic agent; 4 hydroxybutyric acid; postmortem change; Postmortem redistribution; Vitreous humor; Alternative matrices; blood retina barrier; Blood-retinal barrier; preservation and storage; Xenobiotics