Clinical and experimental study of acute intoxication as a result of ingestion of stone hair dye containing paraphenylenediamine

Hair dyes containing para-phenylenediamine were used in some communities for criminal purposes and more frequently for attempted suicide and sometimes accidentally ingested. The aim of the present work to analyze the various aspects of poisoning fatalities as a result of stone hair dye [SHD] ingestion through a retrospective study of fatalities investigated by Assiut Chemical Laboratory of Medico-legal Department, Ministry of Justice in four governorates in Upper Egypt and to detect the systemic effects on experimental animals as a result of its ingestion and if there is dose-effect relationship. The records of acute poisoning cases of hair dye ingestion investigated by Assiut Medicolegal Laboratory in the period from January 2002 to December 2009 were examined as regarding type of poison, pattern, incidence, sex, geographical distribution and mode of poisoning. The studying of the systemic effects on ingestion of hair dye was conducted on 30 albino rats divided into five groups each contain 6 animals. The first group was the control and the other groups were subjected to oral administration of either stone hair dye or para-phenylenediamine [PPD] in two doses [10 and 20 mg each]. The animals were sacrificed after 24 hours and haematological, histopathological [liver and kidney] and biochemical examinations were performed. The results obtained from the records revealed that 72.29% of the cases were from Qena, 14.45% from Aswan, 12% from Sohag and 1.2% from Assiut. The highest incidence of poisoning was found in 2006 [19.3%] followed by 2008, 2009 [15.7%] each, then 2004 and 2005 [13.3%], 2007 [12%], 2002 [7.2%] and lastly 2003 [3.6%]. The majority of victim's were females and most of cases were suicides. There were insignificant changes in RBCs count in all groups and insignificant decrease of Hb concentration while WBCs count was very significantly increased. The levels of AST and ALT showed a significant increase in all treated groups while serum level of creatinine was insignificantly decreased. There was significant increase in the plasma enzymes AST, GPT, the liver tissues showed many degenerative changes in the form of vacuolated cytoplasm and irregular deeply stained nuclei of the hepatocytes with vascular congestion and lymphocytic infiltration. The same results were obtained with both SHD and PPD. They were more obvious with high doses of both. The results confirmed that Para-phenylenediamine is the main toxic ingredient in stone hair dye, and the experimental study revealed that the liver is the target organ of para-phenylenediamine and SHD toxicity, also that toxic manifestations were dose related. This compound is highly toxic when taken by mouth and the outcome depends mainly on the dose taken. The study recommends that the sale and use of PPD containing dyes, SHD and henna should be prohibited

five years retrospective study of poisoning cases investigated by the forensic chemical laboratory in Upper Egypt

Poisoning is an important health hazard and one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. A five years retrospective study of poisoning cases in seven governorates of Upper Egypt investigated by Assiut Forensic Chemical Laboratory in the period from January 2002 to December 2006 was conducted to investigate the patterns, incidences, mode of poisoning, and types of poisons. The total number of cases was 407. The geographical distribution was; 14.0% from Almenia, 44.0% from Assiut, 19.9% from Sohag, 16.5% from Qena, 2.7% from Aswan, 2.2% from Red sea and 0.7% from New Valley. The highest incidence of poisoning was found in 2006 [29%] followed by 2004 [20.4%] then 2002 [18.7] and2005 [16.2%], lastly 2003 [15, 7%]. The highest incidence was in males [61.2%] and the maximum number of cases was recorded in the age group between 21 and 30 years [30.2%]. Suicide cases represented 49.6% of the total cases, 59.9% of them were females while cases of abuse represented 32.7% and 95.5% of them were males. Pesticides were the commonest poisons detected [47.3% of the total], where organophosphates represented [22.1%] and carbamates represented [20.6%] of the total cases. Also they were the main killer used in suicide cases in addition to hair dye ingestion [18.4%]. The use of hair dye for poisoning was common particularly in the south governorates [Qena 81.6% and Aswan 8.2%], either for suicide [83.7%] or trials of suicide [4.1%] and also for murder in 10.2% of the cases. Alcohol was the commonest substance of abuse reported in this study followed by antipsychotics [60.9% and 20.3% respectively]. Cannabis and hydrocarbons had similar percentages [5.3%] followed by hypnotics, opioids and other drugs. This study revealed that there is annual increase in the number of poisoning cases particularly in young adults. Deliberate self- poisoning is a major problem, followed by drug abuse. Pesticides were the main killer followed by hair dye. Alcohol was the commonest abuse substance. There was male predominance except in suicide cases where females predominate

Chemical and toxicological studies on some phenothiazines

Phenothiazines are widely used in the treatment of certain psychiatric disorders. Overdoses of these drugs are common and are potentially lives threatening of patients. This work aims to study the chromatographic and spectrophotometric behavior of some of commonly used phenothiazines [chlorpromazine hydrochloride and fluphenazine decanoate]. And estimation of the drugs to determine their distribution among different tissues, hair and body fluids of albino rats by using quick, sensitive and reliable method of analysis. The present study was conducted on ninety albino rats. The study divided into two parts [A and B] each involved 45 rats; A: The chemical and toxicological studies on chlorpromazine hydrochloride in toxic, lethal and chronic toxic doses. B: The chemical and toxicological studies on fluphenazine decanoate in toxic, lethal and chronic toxic doses. After extraction of chlorpromazine and fluphenazine from brain, liver, kidney, muscle, hair and plasma with ammonium sulphate, identification of the drugs was done using color tests and thin layer chromatography. UV spectrophotomeric and HPLC analysis of the samples was done. The results revealed that thin-layer chromatography gave positive results with tissue extracts of all organs and in all doses. It was obvious from the obtained results that the method used for spectrophotometric analysis offers the advantages of simplicity, specificity without the need of further extraction or heating, besides having higher sensitivity range than most of the existing spectrophotometric methods. The highest concentration of chlorpromazine was found in the kidney in all doses, followed by serum in toxic dose and liver in both lethal and chronic toxicity. Then the distribution varies in the other organs according to the different doses. The mean concentration of chlorpromazine was higher with HPLC than that with spectrophotometric method with significant difference in all organs. The order of distribution of fluphenazine in various organs of animals receiving the toxic dose by both HPLC and spectrophotometric methods was; [kidney, muscles, serum, liver, lung, hair, brain and heart] While the order of distributions of fluphenazine in various organs of animals received the lethal dose by the two methods was; [kidney, liver, serum, muscle, brain, hair, heart and lung] and that for animals receiving the chronic toxic dose was,[kidney, liver, serum, muscle, hair, brain, lung and heart]. It was clear that the order of distributions of chlorpromazine and fluphenazine in various organs in all doses was the same either by spectrophotometric or by HPLC methods, but the concentration of the drug was higher by HPLC than that by spectrophotometer and this difference was significant in all organs

Effects of different environmental factors on the identification of fetal and adult hemoglobin in bloodstains

The forensic scientist is confronted with many problems in the identification of bloodstains. These problems may be due to the aging of the stain or some environmental factors to which the stain was exposed. The aim of this work is to determine the effects of different environmental factors [age, temperature, pH, light, dark, humidity, open air and burn] on fetal hemoglobin [HbF] and adult hemoglobin [HbA] identification. The study aims also to determine the recommended conditions for collection and preservation of bloodstains. The research was carried out on 20 blood samples of healthy adult volunteers and 20 fetal human blood samples. Fetal hemoglobin [HbF] was measured in fetal blood samples and total adult hemoglobin [HbA] was measured in adult blood samples by cyanomethemoglobin method and their patterns were detected by cellulose acetate electrophoresis method. The results demonstrated that fetal and adult hemoglobin concentration decreased with the advance of the age of the stain. The percent of decrease due to aging was more in fetal hemoglobin. The minimal effect of temperature was after exposure to -4°C [the percent of decrease was 29.49% for fetal and 21.99% for adult]. Fetal hemoglobin appeared to be more resistant to alkalis and acids; more affected by both light and dark than adult hemoglobin. The study of the pattern of cellulose acetate electrophoresis revealed that the studied environmental factors had great destructive effects on blood stains but fetal hemoglobin [HbF] was more affected than adult hemoglobin [HbA]. The study recommended that bloodstains must be preserved in a dry condition at -4°C without addition of any chemicals or just in open air where analysis must be done as early as possible

Identification of sex depending on radiological examination of foot and patella

The present work was carried out to investigate the possibility of the estimation of sex from some radiological measurements among a known cross section of Egyptian population. Lateral and anteroposterior radiographs of the right foot and knee were made on 160 living unfractured and non pathological individuals comprising 80 males and 80 females aged 25-65 years. Two measurements on right patella [maximum height and maximum width] and two measurements of metatarsal bones [length and mid shaft diameter] were used to determine sex by univariate and multivariate discriminant analysis. The study revealed significant sex differences, based on these measurements taken on patella or metatarsal bones. One function associating two parameters [length and mid shaft] of the third metatarsal bone obtained the highest value of correct sex determination with a rate of 100% accuracy. The study suggested that the radiographs of the knee and foot are convenient, rapid, cheap and noninvasive means for estimating sex