Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
1221428 | Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis | 2013 | 6 Pages |
Brain distribution pattern of “street” heroin metabolites (morphine and codeine) was investigated in two fatalities due to “acute narcotism”. A suitable sample pretreatment prior to solid-phase-extraction was developed to achieve a good recovery of the analytes and to eliminate the interfering species. After derivatization with MSTFA, samples were analyzed by GC/MS. Specificity, accuracy, precision and linearity of the method were evaluated; LOD and LOQ were, respectively, 10 ng/25 ng for morphine and 5 ng/10 ng for codeine.This method was applied to the analysis of six brain areas (hippocampus, frontal lobe, occipital lobe, nuclei, bulb and pons) coming from two cases of heroin-related deaths. No evidence of accumulation of metabolites in a specific brain region was found.