Analytical method for the determination of strychnine in tissues by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry: two case reports.
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%.
Marques
E P
EP
Laborat¿orio de Toxicologia Forense, Instituto de Medicina Legal de Coimbra, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal. imltoxic@ci.uc.pt
Gil
F
F
Proen"ca
P
P
Monsanto
P
P
Oliveira
M F
MF
Castanheira
A
A
Vieira
D N
DN
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
D000143:Acids; D011042:Poisons; D010208:Papaverine; D013331:Strychnine