The ratio of insulin to C-peptide can be used to make a forensic diagnosis of exogenous insulin overdosage.
A 25-year-old man was killed by his lover by an intravenous injection of insulin and then air. We had difficulty in determining whether insulin had really been injected, so we have 18 control cases and proved that the ratio of insulin to C-peptide in a corpse can be used as positive evidence for the insulin overdosage.
Iwase
H
H
Department of Forensic Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan. iwase@m.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Kobayashi
M
M
Nakajima
M
M
Takatori
T
T
D000328:Adult; D001344:Autopsy / Q000379:methods*; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D002096:C-Peptide / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002423:Cause of Death; D004618:Embolism, Air / Q000175:diagnosis; D006708:Homicide; D006801:Humans; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000097:blood* / Q000506:poisoning*; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood* / Q000506:poisoning*; D008297:Male; D014116:Toxicology / Q000379:methods*
D001786:Blood Glucose; D002096:C-Peptide; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents; D007328:Insulin