A fatal poisoning involving 25C-NBOMe.
Mette Findal Andreasen, Rasmus Telving, Ingrid Rosendal, Marlene Beyer Eg, Jørgen Bo Hasselstrøm, Ljubica Vukelic Andersen
Forensic Science International June 1, 2015 DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2015.03.012 (opens in new tab) via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractA young male died approximately 12 hours after recreational use of the potent hallucinogenic drug 25C-NBOMe, with signs of serotonin toxicity before death. Toxicological analysis of blood, urine, vitreous humor, liver, and gastric content samples using UPLC-HRTOF-MS and UPLC-MS/MS identified and quantified 25C-NBOMe and a demethylated and glucuronidated metabolite. Concentrations ranged from 0.32 μg total in gastric content to 2.93 μg/kg in urine. Autopsy findings were consistent with acute poisoning. The cause of death was a fatal overdose of 25C-NBOMe combined with amphetamine. This is the first reported quantification of 25C-NBOMe in biological specimens from a fatal intoxication.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Case study Case report Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 1 |
| Population | Young male |
| Keywords | 25c-nbome Intoxication Lc–ms/ms Multiple organ failure Uplc–tofms |
| Key finding | Fatal overdose of 25C-NBOMe combined with amphetamine caused death, with quantified drug concentrations in multiple biological specimens. |
Abstract
This paper reports on a fatal overdose case involving the potent hallucinogenic drug 25C-NBOMe (2-(4-chloro-2,5-dimethoxyphenyl)-N-[(2-methoxyphenyl)methyl]ethanamine). In the present case, a young male was hospitalized after the recreational use of this potent drug. He died at the hospital at approximately 12h after ingestion, with preceding signs of serotonin toxicity. Medico-legal autopsy was performed on the deceased, during which time peripheral whole blood, urine, vitreous humor, liver and gastric content samples were submitted for toxicological examination. Further, whole blood collected at the hospital at 2-4h following ingestion of the drug was analyzed. 25C-NBOMe and a demethylated and glucuronidated metabolite of 25C-NBOMe were identified in the urine and blood samples using ultra-performance liquid chromatography with high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-HRTOF-MS). Subsequently, 25C-NBOMe was quantified in the peripheral whole blood (0.60μg/kg), urine (2.93μg/kg), vitreous humor (0.33μg/kg), liver (0.82μg/kg) and gastric content (0.32μg total) samples collected during autopsy and in the ante-mortem whole blood (0.81μg/kg) by ultra-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). The autopsy findings were consistent with acute poisoning. Based on the toxicological findings, the cause of death was determined to be a fatal overdose of 25C-NBOMe in combination with amphetamine intake. To our knowledge, the present paper reports the first quantification of 25C-NBOMe in biological specimens from a fatal intoxication case.