title: Detection of triazolam in skeletal remains buried for 4 years.
abstract: Analyses of the hypnotic triazolam from the remains of two human skeletons buried underground for 4 years were made for purposes of confirmation. The bone marrow and mummified muscle were digested with 2 M sodium hydroxide, efficiently extracted using a 3-step solvent extraction procedure, and selectively analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry with the negative ion chemical ionization mode. Estazolam was the internal standard used. Triazolam was detected in all the samples; the concentrations were 0.36 ng/g in the bone marrow of one victim, and 0.37 and 5.5 ng/g in the bone marrow and mummified muscle of the other victim. This method should prove useful for determination of triazolam in extensively decomposed bodies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kudo
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sugie
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Syoui
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kurihara
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jitsufuchi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Imamura
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ikeda
mesh_terms: D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000737:chemistry; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000473:pathology*; D005554:Forensic Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000032:analysis*; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000737:chemistry; D014229:Triazolam / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D014229:Triazolam