Ethanol Determination in <i>Post-Mortem</i> Samples: Correlation between Blood and Vitreous Humor Concentration
Ethanol (ethylic alcohol) represents the most commonly used drug worldwide and is often involved in clinical and forensic toxicology. Based on several reports, excessive alcohol consumption is the main contributing factor in traffic accidents, drownings, suicides, and other crimes. For these reasons...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2020-06-01
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| Series: | Molecules |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/25/12/2724 |
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| author | Fabio Savini Angela Tartaglia Ludovica Coccia Danilo Palestini Cristian D’Ovidio Ugo de Grazia Giuseppe Maria Merone Elisa Bassotti Marcello Locatelli |
| author_facet | Fabio Savini Angela Tartaglia Ludovica Coccia Danilo Palestini Cristian D’Ovidio Ugo de Grazia Giuseppe Maria Merone Elisa Bassotti Marcello Locatelli |
| author_sort | Fabio Savini |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Ethanol (ethylic alcohol) represents the most commonly used drug worldwide and is often involved in clinical and forensic toxicology. Based on several reports, excessive alcohol consumption is the main contributing factor in traffic accidents, drownings, suicides, and other crimes. For these reasons, it becomes essential to analyze the alcohol concentration during autopsy. Although blood is usually used for alcohol analysis in <i>post-mortem</i> cases, it could suffer alterations, putrefaction, and microbial contaminations. As an alternative to whole blood, vitreous humor has been successfully used in medico-legal studies. In this work, <i>post-mortem</i> specimens were analyzed for ethanol determination. The analysis of blood and vitreous humor were carried-out using gas chromatography-flame ionized detector (GC-FID) with a total run time of 6 min. The method was validated in terms of limit of detection, limit of quantification, dynamic range, sensibility, recovery, precision and trueness. A linear regression analysis indicated a coefficient of determination (R<sup>2</sup>) of 0.9981. The study confirmed no statistically differences between alcohol concentration in blood and vitreous humor, leading vitreous humor as an excellent matrix that could be used as an alternative to whole blood in toxicological analysis in cases where blood is not available. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T19:13:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-97eded778a6a47b99f33db2f16de6033 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1420-3049 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T19:13:13Z |
| publishDate | 2020-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Molecules |
| spelling | doaj.art-97eded778a6a47b99f33db2f16de60332023-11-20T03:35:48ZengMDPI AGMolecules1420-30492020-06-012512272410.3390/molecules25122724Ethanol Determination in <i>Post-Mortem</i> Samples: Correlation between Blood and Vitreous Humor ConcentrationFabio Savini0Angela Tartaglia1Ludovica Coccia2Danilo Palestini3Cristian D’Ovidio4Ugo de Grazia5Giuseppe Maria Merone6Elisa Bassotti7Marcello Locatelli8Pharmatoxicology Laboratory—Hospital “Santo Spirito”, Via Fonte Romana 8, 65124 Pescara, ItalyDepartment of Pharmacy, University of Chieti–Pescara “G. d’Annunzio”, Via dei Vestini 31, 66100 Chieti, ItalyDepartment of Pharmacy, University of Chieti–Pescara “G. d’Annunzio”, Via dei Vestini 31, 66100 Chieti, ItalyHead of Anti-Degradation Intervention Group (G.I.O.N.A.) of the Municipal Police of the City of Pescara, Commander f.f. of the Municipal Police of Pescara, Via del Circuito 26, 65100 Pescara, ItalyDepartment of Medicine and Aging Sciences, Section of Legal Medicine, University of Chieti–Pescara “G. d’Annunzio”, Via dei Vestini 31, 66100 Chieti, ItalyFondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Laboratory of Neurological Biochemistry and Neuropharmacology, Via Celoria 11, 20133 Milan, ItalyDepartment of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University of Chieti–Pescara “G. d’Annunzio”, Via dei Vestini 31, 66100 Chieti, ItalyR&D Department Eureka Lab Division, 60033 Chiaravalle, ItalyDepartment of Pharmacy, University of Chieti–Pescara “G. d’Annunzio”, Via dei Vestini 31, 66100 Chieti, ItalyEthanol (ethylic alcohol) represents the most commonly used drug worldwide and is often involved in clinical and forensic toxicology. Based on several reports, excessive alcohol consumption is the main contributing factor in traffic accidents, drownings, suicides, and other crimes. For these reasons, it becomes essential to analyze the alcohol concentration during autopsy. Although blood is usually used for alcohol analysis in <i>post-mortem</i> cases, it could suffer alterations, putrefaction, and microbial contaminations. As an alternative to whole blood, vitreous humor has been successfully used in medico-legal studies. In this work, <i>post-mortem</i> specimens were analyzed for ethanol determination. The analysis of blood and vitreous humor were carried-out using gas chromatography-flame ionized detector (GC-FID) with a total run time of 6 min. The method was validated in terms of limit of detection, limit of quantification, dynamic range, sensibility, recovery, precision and trueness. A linear regression analysis indicated a coefficient of determination (R<sup>2</sup>) of 0.9981. The study confirmed no statistically differences between alcohol concentration in blood and vitreous humor, leading vitreous humor as an excellent matrix that could be used as an alternative to whole blood in toxicological analysis in cases where blood is not available.https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/25/12/2724ethanol<i>post-mortem</i> analysisbloodvitreous humorspecimens correlationGC-FID |
| spellingShingle | Fabio Savini Angela Tartaglia Ludovica Coccia Danilo Palestini Cristian D’Ovidio Ugo de Grazia Giuseppe Maria Merone Elisa Bassotti Marcello Locatelli Ethanol Determination in <i>Post-Mortem</i> Samples: Correlation between Blood and Vitreous Humor Concentration Molecules ethanol <i>post-mortem</i> analysis blood vitreous humor specimens correlation GC-FID |
| title | Ethanol Determination in <i>Post-Mortem</i> Samples: Correlation between Blood and Vitreous Humor Concentration |
| title_full | Ethanol Determination in <i>Post-Mortem</i> Samples: Correlation between Blood and Vitreous Humor Concentration |
| title_fullStr | Ethanol Determination in <i>Post-Mortem</i> Samples: Correlation between Blood and Vitreous Humor Concentration |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ethanol Determination in <i>Post-Mortem</i> Samples: Correlation between Blood and Vitreous Humor Concentration |
| title_short | Ethanol Determination in <i>Post-Mortem</i> Samples: Correlation between Blood and Vitreous Humor Concentration |
| title_sort | ethanol determination in i post mortem i samples correlation between blood and vitreous humor concentration |
| topic | ethanol <i>post-mortem</i> analysis blood vitreous humor specimens correlation GC-FID |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/25/12/2724 |
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