Drug Analysis in Necrophagous Flies and Human Tissues (original) (raw)
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Journal of arthropod-borne diseases, 2018
Entomotoxicology as a subset of forensic entomology can be used by analysis of carcass feeding insects to detecting of drugs or toxins, as well as the cause and manner of death in cases of ante-mortem drugs intoxication. Morphine is one of the deacetylate metabolites of heroin. The aim of this study was to determine the presence and quantity of morphine in insects on the carcass and compare them with decomposing carcass. Field of this study was in Chalabeh District and toxicological tests were carried out at the Department of Forensic Toxicology, Legal Medicine Center, Kermanshah, Iran in 2017. Morphine was inoculated into live rabbit as experimental model at concentrations of 12.5, 25, 50mg/ml, similar to those normally encountered in human overdoses, then quality and quantity of morphine were determined in insects such as (as the first wave of insect succession on human cadavers) fed on carcass. Quantitative assessment at larvae showed that morphine was detected in all larvae (fee...
Drug analysis in blowfly larvae and in human tissues: a comparative study
International Journal of Legal Medicine, 2004
The present study investigates the correlation between concentrations of drugs in human tissues and Diptera larvae feeding on these tissues. Samples of liver were taken from 18 cases in which preliminary toxicological screening indicated the presence of drugs. Blowfly larvae (Diptera: Calliphoridae) were reared on these samples and subsequently analyzed for drug content. Toxicological analyses were carried out using ONLINE Abuscreen (Roche) and GC/MS for available body fluids (blood, urine and bile) as well as liver samples and maggots. All drugs detected in human tissues were also detected in insect specimens. Opiates, cocaine and barbiturates as well as some antidepressants (clomipramine, amitryptiline, nortryptiline, levomepromezine and tioridazine) were observed. Comparisons of drug concentrations between those in human tissues and blowfly larvae showed different patterns of distribution that may be attributed to differences in physiology. Results confirm the reliability of entomological specimens for qualitative analyses, although quantitative extrapolations are unreliable. All xenobiotics detected were in higher concentrations in human tissues than in maggots. Concentrations in post-feeding maggots were significantly lower than for feeding maggots, suggesting that the feeding state of maggots may affect toxicological analyses as they metabolize and eliminate drugs during development.
International Journal of Human and Health Sciences (IJHHS), 2020
Determining the cause of death is an important factor in the forensic investigation process.”Some aspects of death will be difficult to find if the condition of the body has suffered severe damage when found. “Corpses due to drug abuse found in hidden places are often difficult to know with certainty the cause of death. Insects that eat the corpse tissue, then xenobiotics such as drugs and other toxic substances will be transferred to the larval body’s metabolic system so that it is easily detected with sophisticated equipment.”Techniques such as “immunoassays, High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) have been used routinely to detect xenobiotics from the body, larvae, and insects.”The study of “insects as alternative toxicological samples is known as forensic entomotoxicologyInternational Journal of Human and Health Sciences Vol. 05 No. 02 April’21 Page: 185-190
Analysis of paracetamol in forensic blowfly samples from intoxicated-paracetamol carcass
Malaysian applied biology, 2015
Paracetamol is one of the most commonly used analgesic drugs that often reported to be abused and involved in intoxication death cases. Some of these cases involved decomposed biological samples from the dead remains, which cannot be analysed appropriately by methods applied for ante mortem specimens. In this study a method for determining paracetamol in entomological samples obtained from decomposed paracetamol-intoxicated carcass is described. As alternative, entomological samples which is blowflies larvae was used for toxicology analysis since immature blowflies were the main processor for the dead remains. To obtain a paracetamol-exposed carcass, New Zealand white rabbits were ingested with 5600 mg/kg (dose) of paracetamol and were let to decompose. Blowflies larvae consumed the carcasses were collected and paracetamol from the larvae were analysed using High Performance Liquid Chromatography with Diode Array Detector (HPLC-DAD). Paracetamol extraction from blowflies’ larvae was...
2020
Insects can prove to be a valuable tool in the estimation of PMI in the investigation of homicides, suicides, and other unattended human deaths, in the absence of tissues and body fluids. Aim: The current study aimed to determine morphine concentration in the second, third feeding, third post-feeding instars, and puparial skin of four forensically important flies; Lucilia sericata (Meigen), Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann), Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius) (Calliphoridae), and Sarcophaga argyrostoma (Robineau-Desvoidy) (Sarcophagidae) and to evaluate its effect on the rate and pattern of development of these flies. Materials and methods: Three female domestic rabbits, Oryctolagus cuniculus (L.) each weighing 2.5 kg received dosages of 7.5, 15, and 30 mg of morphine over a 3-h period via left ear artery perfusion. For each trial, one other rabbit, weighing 2.5 kg, was used as a control. Morphine was detected in larval instars and puparial skin using ready to use RIA kit. Results: All ...
Unexpected results found in larvae samples from two postmortem forensic cases
Forensic Toxicology, 2021
Purpose In forensics, entomological specimens can be used as additional/alternative matrices to detect xenobiotics when human specimens are limited in their application. Despite some advantages over implementing putrefied human remains, most medico-legal laboratories do not include entomotoxicological procedures as routine analytical methods. We thus applied two authentic cases to evaluate necrophagous larvae’s potential as complementary matrices for toxicological analysis after extensive postmortem decomposition. Methods Larvae and postmortem human samples, including hair, stomach contents, pericardial fluid, liver, lung, and skeletal muscle, were collected at autopsy. Samples were analyzed by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography–quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry for pharmaceutical substances, illicit drugs, and new psychoactive substances, including synthetic cannabinoids, benzodiazepines, new synthetic opioids, and stimulants. Results...
Study of Insect Larva Used to Detect Toxic Substance through Decomposed Bodies Review Article
SciDoc Publishers, 2020
Forensic entomology, Entomotoxicology is used to study the effect of toxins in the cadaver with the help of the insects. In some cases when toxicological samples are absent then the insects and other arthropods plays an important role to study the time since death and also the postmortem index (PMI). The identification and quantification of the present drug in the cadaver is studied through the analysis of the insects and other feeding arthropods present on the cadaver. The presence of different types of drug viz; benzodiazepines, nefopam, antidepressants, opiates, cocaine, heroin, barbiturates, alcohol etc. can also be identified through the study of insect larvae. Entomotoxicology is also used to establish the comparative study between the drugged and non-drugged bodies and the larvae samples collected, preserved in ethanol and used as controlled samples in laboratories.