Microbial impacts in postmortem toxicology

Castle, Jared W; Butzbach, Danielle M.; Walker, G. Stewart; Lenehan, Claire E.; Reith, Frank; Kirkbride, K. Paul

doi:10.1002/9781119062585.ch9

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 156 publications

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“…Microorganisms play a significant role in postmortem decomposition and may also degrade drugs and metabolites present in a putrefying body or from specimens taken therefrom 1 . Drug metabolites produced by bacteria and fungi may vary, with some organisms unable to metabolize particular drugs and others able to convert drugs into nonhuman metabolites 2–4 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigations into the stability of 17 psychoactive drugs in a “simulated postmortem blood” model

Castle

Butzbach

Reith

et al. 2022

Drug Testing and Analysis

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In the postmortem environment, some drugs and metabolites may degrade due to microbial activity, even forming degradation products that are not produced in humans. Consequently, underestimation or overestimation of perimortem drug concentrations or even false negatives are possible when analyzing postmortem specimens. Therefore, understanding whether medications may be susceptible to microbial degradation is critical in order to ensure that reliable detection and quantitation of drugs and their degradation products is achieved in toxicology screening methods. In this study, a “simulated postmortem blood” model constructed of antemortem human whole blood inoculated with a broad population of human fecal microorganisms was used to investigate the stability of 17 antidepressant and antipsychotic drugs. Microbial communities present in the experiments were determined to be relevant to postmortem blood microorganisms by 16S rRNA sequencing analyses. After 7 days of exposure to the community at 37°C, drug stability was evaluated using liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection (LC‐DAD) and with quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (LC‐QTOF‐MS). Most of the investigated drugs were found to be stable in inoculated samples and noninoculated controls. However, the 1,2‐benzisothiazole antipsychotics, ziprasidone and lurasidone, were found to degrade at a rate comparable with the known labile control, risperidone. In longer experiments (7 to 12 months), where specimens were stored at −20°C, 4°C, and ambient temperature, N‐dealkylation degradation products were detected for many of the drugs, with greater formation in specimens stored at −20°C than at 4°C.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigations into the stability of 17 psychoactive drugs in a “simulated postmortem blood” model

Castle

Butzbach

Reith

et al. 2022

Drug Testing and Analysis

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“…They are able to colonise human tissues rapidly after death [72] and are highly abundant in decomposing remains with both short and long PMIs [73]. Bacilli are primarily aerobic, although several taxa in this phylum are anaerobic but aerotolerant [74]. They are commonly found in the gastrointestinal tract and have a proteolytic effect in the cadaver [75].…”

Section: Laboratory Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They are commonly found in the gastrointestinal tract and have a proteolytic effect in the cadaver [75]. Bacilli have been reported as one of the most abundant classes in decomposition studies that examined the different stages of decomposition [71,74,76].…”

Section: Laboratory Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbial DNA in human nucleic acid extracts: Recoverability of the microbiome in DNA extracts stored frozen long-term and its potential and ethical implications for forensic investigation

Sguazzi¹,

Mickleburgh²,

Ghignone³

et al. 2022

Forensic Science International: Genetics

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“…Although subjected to an intense debate, it has been hypothesized that during decomposition some microorganisms are responsible for the degradation of drugs (e.g., antidepressants, antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, cannabinoids, cocaine, heroin and morphine glucuronides) or poisons (e.g., cyanide) and for the neoformation of other metabolites (e.g., alcohol, methamphetamines and amphetamines, 4-hydroxybutanoic acid, methadone and other potent opioids) (Byard and Butzbach 2012;Gerostamoulos et al 2012;Han et al 2012). Therefore, postmortem microbial activity can, at least theoretically, interfere with autopsy findings concerning pre-mortem drug consumption and, consequently, alter the interpretation of the cause of death (Butzbach 2010;Butzbach et al 2013;Castle et al 2017;Drummer 2004;Gunn and Pitt 2012;Sastre et al 2017;Skopp 2010).…”

Section: Toxicologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The consumption of methamphetamines is rapidly increasing on a worldwide scale and, therefore, its forensic relevance. Several gastrointestinal microorganisms, such as species belonging to the genera Enterobacterium, Enterococcus, Lactobacillus, Clostridium and Bacterioides, are responsible for the N-demethylation of methamphetamines converting these compounds into amphetamines (Castle et al 2017;Rommel et al 2016).…”

Section: Toxicologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbial forensics: new breakthroughs and future prospects

Oliveira

Amorim

2018

Appl Microbiol Biotechnol

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Recent advances in genetic data generation, through massive parallel sequencing (MPS), storage and analysis have fostered significant progresses in microbial forensics (or forensic microbiology). Initial applications in circumstances of biocrime, bioterrorism and epidemiology are now accompanied by the prospect of using microorganisms (i) as ancillary evidence in criminal cases; (ii) to clarify causes of death (e.g., drownings, toxicology, hospital-acquired infections, sudden infant death and shaken baby syndromes); (iii) to assist human identification (skin, hair and body fluid microbiomes); (iv) for geolocation (soil microbiome); and (v) to estimate postmortem interval (thanatomicrobiome and epinecrotic microbial community). When compared with classical microbiological methods, MPS offers a diverse range of advantages and alternative possibilities. However, prior to its implementation in the forensic context, critical efforts concerning the elaboration of standards and guidelines consolidated by the creation of robust and comprehensive reference databases must be undertaken.

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Microbial impacts in postmortem toxicology

Cited by 10 publications

References 156 publications

Investigations into the stability of 17 psychoactive drugs in a “simulated postmortem blood” model

Investigations into the stability of 17 psychoactive drugs in a “simulated postmortem blood” model

Microbial DNA in human nucleic acid extracts: Recoverability of the microbiome in DNA extracts stored frozen long-term and its potential and ethical implications for forensic investigation

Microbial forensics: new breakthroughs and future prospects

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