Abstract
Knowledge concerning the distribution of methadone in postmortem human tissue and the effect of postmortem redistribution on methadone is today limited making the choice of a suitable substitute for femoral blood difficult when this is not available. Cardiac blood, femoral blood, muscle, and brain tissue concentrations of the enantiomers of methadone and its metabolite 2-ethyl-1,5-dimethyl-3,3-diphenylpyrrolinium were recorded for 155 postmortem cases. Brain and muscle tissue concentrations exceeded the femoral blood concentrations with a median fold of 2.3 and 1.6, respectively, but both had a better correlation than cardiac blood to femoral blood concentrations. The Kruskal-Wallis test showed a significant dependency on time and body mass index for some of the matrix ratios over femoral blood. We conclude brain or muscle tissue may constitute a better alternative for measurement of methadone than cardiac blood for situations in which femoral blood is not available, despite concentrations in both matrices being systematically higher.
| Translated title of the contribution | Fordeing af enantiomerne for metadon og dens hovedmetabolit EDDP i human væv og blood i postmortem sager |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Journal | Journal of Forensic Sciences |
| Volume | 60 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Pages (from-to) | 95-101 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| ISSN | 0022-1198 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2015 |