title: Analytical method for the determination of strychnine in tissues by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry: two case reports.
abstract: This paper describes an analytical method for strychnine determination in biological samples by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and their application in the investigation of two cases involving strychnine ingestion: A fatal case and a clinical one. The strychnine is isolated from biological samples using a liquid-liquid extraction procedure. The clean-up procedure is performed using an acid solution. Papaverine is used as internal standard in the quantification of strychnine. In the analysed specimens, the limits of quantification were 0.1 microg/ml or 0.1 microg/g. The recovery rate ranged from 75.0% to 98.7% and the coefficients of variation ranged from 4.8% to 10.5%.
authors.affiliation: Laborat¿orio de Toxicologia Forense, Instituto de Medicina Legal de Coimbra, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal. imltoxic@ci.uc.pt
authors.forename: E P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Marques
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gil
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Proen"ca
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Monsanto
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Castanheira
authors.forename: D N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Vieira
mesh_terms: D000143:Acids; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010208:Papaverine / Q000032:analysis; D011042:Poisons / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000032:analysis; D012640:Seizures / Q000139:chemically induced; D013331:Strychnine / Q000032:analysis / Q000506:poisoning*; D013405:Suicide
chemical_list: D000143:Acids; D011042:Poisons; D010208:Papaverine; D013331:Strychnine