Suicide is a public health threat that leads to morbidity and mortality worldwide. In this study, we evaluated postmortem toxicological finding among forensic autopsies on suicidal deaths from 2010 to 2016 at the Legal Medicine Center of Zanjan Province (northwest of Iran). All suicide fatal cases were investigated to define the cause and manner of death. Toxicological analyses were performed using thin-layer chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, headspace gas chromatography, and gas chromatography equipped with nitrogen phosphorus detector. Demographic data (age, sex, educational level, residential location, and marital status), cause of death, and postmortem toxicological findings were extracted from forensic reports and were entered into the designed questioners. During this period, a total of 181 cases of suicide deaths were investigated. Among them, 74% were male. The most often used suicide method was hanging, followed by self-poisoning in young people. Aluminum phosphide was the most frequent poison detected in the fatal suicidal cases (33 cases), followed by opioids. Hanging and self-poisoning were the frequent suicidal method in young male population. It seems that psychological and social supports in young people along with restriction to easy access to drugs and poisons should be considered by policy making and healthcare authorities.

Background: Methadone abuse and dependence has been reported as a growing concern in some countries. In present study, a rapid, simple, easy and sensitive method for determination of methadone in human urine samples for use in clinical and forensic toxicology and drug screening laboratories was developed and validated. Methods: We determined methadone in urine sampled by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and used ultrasound assisted liquid-liquid extraction (UALLE) method for the extraction and preconcentration of methadone before analysis. Results: The limit of detection was 2.1 ng/mL and the limit of quantification 7 ng/mL. Correlation coefficient was 0.9984 for the methadone calibration curve in linear range from 7 to 10,000 ng/mL. The method is accurate and precise. Recovery was in the range of  81.3 % to 97.4 % and enrichment factor was 8.7. The method was successfully applied for determining methadone in clinical and postmortem urine samples. Conclusions: The present method is a rapid, simple, easy and sensitive procedure and can be used in clinical and forensic toxicology laboratories as routine method for qualitative and quantitative analysis of methadone.

No abstract