title: Postmortem serotonin (5-HT) concentrations in the cerebrospinal fluid of medicolegal cases.
abstract: In a medicolegal study the postmortem serotonin (5-HT) cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations were determined in routine autopsies using a high performance liquid chromatographic procedure with electrochemical detection. There was no correlation between 5-HT concentrations and age, sex or blood alcohol concentration using a postmortem delay < or = 3 days. In suicides the suboccipital CSF concentrations were significantly decreased compared to the levels measured in the control group (8.55+/-5.99 ng/ml versus 20.15+/-13.56 ng/ml). Additionally, a decrease of 5-HT was found in the suboccipital CSF of opiate fatalities (15.56+/-13.52 ng/ml). The results support the hypothesis that decreased 5-HT concentrations in the CSF are characteristic in suicides. However, due to a rather broad overlapping of values between suicides and controls the results failed to define a possible cut-off level in the 5-HT CSF concentration to distinguish between a suicidal and a non-suicidal incident.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Legal Medicine, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-University, Stiftsplatz 12, 53111 Bonn, Germany. f.musshoff@uni-bonn.de
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Musshoff
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Menting
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Madea
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004563:Electrochemistry; D005260:Female; D005554:Forensic Medicine; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009294:Narcotics / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000506:poisoning; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000737:chemistry; D012701:Serotonin / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000378:metabolism; D013405:Suicide
chemical_list: D016166:Free Radical Scavengers; D009294:Narcotics; D012701:Serotonin