Post-mortem Redistribution of Drug of Abuse
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Post-mortem Redistribution of Drugs of Abuse
IRAS ID
206616
Contact name
Berlian Isnia Fitrasanti
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Glasgow
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 9 months, 31 days
Research summary
Drug-related deaths have become a global problem. In 2012, the number of drug-related death was estimated to be 183,000 among 162-324 million users. Substances that were mainly used are cannabis, opioid, cocaine and amphetamine-type stimulants. In Scotland, in 2013, there were 526 drug-related deaths. It was a decrease compared to the number of drug-related deaths in 2012. To determine whether the drugs are the cause of death, post-mortem analysis is needed. In post-mortem analysis, commonly-used matrices are blood, urine and vitreous humour. However, in cases where urine and blood is not available alternative matrices need to be taken, such as liver and muscle. Muscle, especially skeletal muscle, is also considered to be an ideal material for drug analysis because it is homogenous and often available in adequate amounts. In addition, liver is also a good material to help investigate the existence of any substance in the body, since drug concentration in liver is usually approximately 10x times higher.
Post-mortem redistribution describes the ability of drugs to move throughout the body after death and it causes major difficulties in the interpretation of post-mortem drug concentration. The phenomenon is still not completely understood and this research is required to fully realise its impact on certain drugs, certain circumstances of death and body storage. It is necessary to understand better the differences in concentration of drugs in blood, liver and muscle, so that in cases when blood is unattainable and/or blood concentration of drugs is below expectation, muscle and/or liver can be used to confirm the existence of the drugs in the system.
This study will be carried out using routine and additional toxicology samples to identify the drugs concentration ratio among blood, muscle and liver in order to determine their post-mortem redistribution, both in fresh tissue and decomposed tissue.REC name
West of Scotland REC 4
REC reference
16/WS/0112
Date of REC Opinion
17 Jun 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion