Citation

Eibel A, Farrugia A, Raul JS, Kintz P. Toxicol. Anal. Clin. 2018; 30(3): 218-222.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Société Française de Toxicologie Analytique, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.toxac.2018.05.001

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

When it comes to a decomposing body, few matrices remain available to the pathologist and the forensic scientists. Alternative matrices, such as fly larvae or hair can be collected to help understanding the circumstances of the death. The authors report the death of a 54-year-old man discovered in his home in a state of advanced putrefaction. The subject, who was known to have made a suicide attempt in the past, was found lying on the floor of his toilet surrounded by boxes of drugs/medicine packs, including Lioresal®. Baclofen had been initially marketed as an antispasmodic drug and, since 2013, it has been used in the treatment of alcohol withdrawal. Baclofen was analyzed by liquid chromatrography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry after acetonitrile precipitation in presence of baclofen-d4, used as internal standard. An amount of 394 ng/mL of baclofen were found in the pleural fluid and 766 ng/g were detected in the fly larvae. To document the concentration in the pleural fluid collected after death, the stability of baclofen was studied in whole blood. It has been observed a rapid chemical degradation of the molecule of 35% within 3 weeks, irrespective the storage temperature, which should be taken into account in the interpretation of any concentration. The analysis of body hair after incubation in methanol revealed the presence of 0.91 ng/mg of baclofen. All of these analyses allowed us to conclude that the victim had taken baclofen within the period of death and had been previously exposed to the drug. The investigations using larvae and hair were both really important for the understanding of the potential causes of the death. The alternative matrices are therefore an important element for the forensic toxicologist in order to lead in the best way towards the circumstances of death. This observation is the first identification of baclofen in fly larvae. © 2018 Société Française de Toxicologie Analytique

Language: en

Keywords

Intoxication; human; suicide; methanol; death; liquid chromatography; Baclofen; baclofen; autolysis; Article; tandem mass spectrometry; hair; maggot; Putrefaction; Maggots; alcohol withdrawal syndrome; arthropod larva; Larvae; pleura fluid