The stability of cocaine (COC) in blood bank blood, postmortem human whole blood, and buffers was evaluated with consideration for the presence of the degradation products, benzoylecgonine (BE) and ecgonine methyl ester (EME). At COC concentrations commonly seen, the rate of COC hydrolysis was independent of concentration. COC was stable in blood for at least 150 days if the blood was adjusted to pH 5 and preserved with 2% NaF or organophosphates and maintained at 4 degrees C or lower. Without preservation, most COC hydrolyzed to EME. The addition of a pseudocholinesterase (PChE) inhibitor without a reduction of pH caused COC to hydrolyze to BE. COC also hydrolyzed to BE in phosphate buffer. The rate of COC hydrolysis in all studies increased with increasing pH and temperature. COC was more stable in unpreserved postmortem blood than blood bank blood due to the lower pH of the former. The incubation of COC in enzyme solutions provided further evidence of the generally accepted hypothesis that COC is hydrolyzed to EME by PChE and to BE by chemical hydrolysis. In unpreserved blood, BE was more stable than EME at room temperature. There was little loss of BE or EME at refrigerated temperature over a period of 35 days and no evidence that EME or BE could be hydrolyzed enzymatically.

Plasma was obtained from 10 human subjects at various intervals after administration of two rapid doses of cocaine, either intravenously or by smoking, and multiple doses by smoking and intravenously. The plasma was analyzed for COC and its metabolites, benzoylecgonine (BE) and ecgonine methyl ester (EME). Plasma concentrations of COC were found to be dose-dependent. For patients receiving two successive doses of COC intravenously (IV) or by smoking (SM), the average half-life of COC was found to be between 38 and 39 minutes, regardless of the dose or route of administration. Considerable interindividual variation was observed. Multiple doses of both SM and IV COC were administered to three patients in a manner consistent with COC abuse. The maximum COC concentration observed was 1.2 mg/L following a total administration of 316 mg of COC over 90 min. Analysis of BE and EME confirmed that BE is the principle metabolite of COC in blood. All COC was accounted for by BE. EME, when present, did not exceed 5% of the BE concentration.

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Postmortem heart blood, peripheral blood, vitreous humor, urine, and bile specimens from 26 autopsy cases were analyzed for the presence of gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) and gamma-methyl gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (4-Me-GHB) after long-term freezer storage. Cases were selected for which exogenous GHB, gamma-butyrolactone (GBL), gamma valerolactone (GVL), or 1,4-butanediol use was not suspected. One documented positive GHB case subjected to the same storage conditions was also evaluated for comparison. Specimens did not contain any preservatives or additives except heart blood, which contained sodium fluoride (2% w/v). The results of the analysis for GHB in vitreous humor (n = 26) demonstrated, with one exception, concentrations below the limit of detection for the method (5 mg/L). In the exception case, the value was determined to be 7 mg/L. Documented cases of GHB positive fatalities showed vitreous humor concentrations (n = 6) that exceeded this range by a factor of 12 or more. There was no apparent relationship between storage times and GHB concentrations. The data developed in this study demonstrate a postmortem endogenous range for GHB in vitreous humor that is less than or equal to 7 mg/L. Studies of the stored GHB-positive case demonstrated no significant change in concentration over the time period studied. None of the specimens analyzed in this study contained detectable amounts of 4-Me-GHB. This would support the contention that when 4-Me-GHB is detected, it is most likely due to the exogenous consumption of GVL.

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