ABSTRACT
The causes of sudden cardiac death are diverse and are function of age. In young people, coronary anomalies, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy are the most common findings at autopsies; in adults, coronary atherosclerosis and acquired forms of cardiomyopathy are frequent findings. In many of non-ischemia related cases autopsies are unrevealing. One of the most frustrating challenges is the inability to determine the cause of death in a person previously healthy. The majority of such sudden deaths are caused by acute ventricular tachyarrhythmias, but unfortunately unassociated with structural injury to the heart. The present work evaluates incidence, clinical data, and laboratory tests. Biochemical studies on serum, pericardial fluid, vitreous humour and pathological characteristics of 38 cases of sudden cardiac death from 2003 were investigated by us. Also, non-cardiac natural causes of death must be excluded.
Subject(s)
Creatine Kinase/metabolism , Death, Sudden, Cardiac/pathology , Isoenzymes/metabolism , L-Lactate Dehydrogenase/metabolism , Coronary Artery Disease/pathology , Creatine Kinase, MB Form , Female , Forensic Pathology , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Myocardial Infarction/pathology , Pericardium/metabolism , Vitreous Body/metabolismABSTRACT
The accurate interpretation of analytical results from hair testing for drugs of abuse continues to be a complex and difficult problem since many questions still remain unanswered. In this paper an animal model was developed to ascertain the time course for the appearance and disappearance of cocaine and its metabolite benzoylecgonine (BE) in hair. Female Fauve Bourgogne red-haired rabbits (n = 6) were intraperitoneally administered a single dose of cocaine at 5 mg/kg. Animal hair was shaved just before drug administration and the newly grown back hair was subsequently shaved and collected daily over a period of two weeks. Samples were analyzed for cocaine and BE by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The profiles were quite similar for parent drug and metabolite. Cocaine and BE appeared in the first sampling (day 1), with peak concentration appearing that same day. 1.01 ng/mg and 0.51 ng/mg for cocaine and BE, respectively. Levels declined rapidly on day 2, remaining detectable for ten days after drug administration. This study demonstrates that the initial incorporation of cocaine compounds in rabbit hair is very rapid (24 h). A small fraction of the drug is detected ten days after exposure, at a time when concentrations in other biological specimens (blood or urine) are not detectable.
Subject(s)
Cocaine/pharmacokinetics , Hair/metabolism , Narcotics/pharmacokinetics , Animals , Cocaine/analogs & derivatives , Disease Models, Animal , Female , Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry , Rabbits , Sensitivity and Specificity , Substance Abuse Detection/methodsABSTRACT
In previous research on the effects of cannabis on cellular functions the authors observed an increase in glucose metabolism in the postmitochondrial fraction of the liver of rats submitted to chronic administration of cannabis extracts. Continuing this research on rats submitted to acute cannabis intoxication a single dose of cannabis extract (600 mg/kg) in olive oil is administered to male adult rats and the animals are killed within a 36-hour period. The analyses show that energetic and detoxifying metabolism of glucose is increased, as indicated by the increase of F-1, 6-di P-aldolase and uridin-diphosphoglucose-dehydrogenase activities, which parallels the observed decrease of glycogen levels. Maximum effect appears between 8 and 16 hours after administration.
