sciensano.be
Published on sciensano.be (https://sciensano.be)

Home > Biblio > Activity-Based Detection and Bioanalytical Confirmation of a Fatal Carfentanil Intoxication.

Activity-Based Detection and Bioanalytical Confirmation of a Fatal Carfentanil Intoxication.

Health and disease monitoring  
Quality of healthcare  
[1]
Download 626.85 KB [1]

Public Access

Published

Peer reviewed scientific article

English

DOI : https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2018.00486/ [2]

Authors

Annelies Cannaert [3]; Lars Ambach [4]; Peter Blanckaert [5]; Christophe P Stove [6]

Keywords

    Abstract:

    Carfentanil, one of the most potent opioids known, has recently been reported as a contaminant in street heroin in the United States and Europe, and is associated with an increased number of life-threatening emergency department admissions and deaths. Here, we report on the application of a novel opioid activity reporter assay and a sensitive bioanalytical assay in the context of a fatal carfentanil intoxication, revealing the highest carfentanil concentrations reported until now. A 21-year-old male was found dead at home with a note stating that he had taken carfentanil with suicidal inten…
    Read more

    Abstract

    Carfentanil, one of the most potent opioids known, has recently been reported as a contaminant in street heroin in the United States and Europe, and is associated with an increased number of life-threatening emergency department admissions and deaths. Here, we report on the application of a novel opioid activity reporter assay and a sensitive bioanalytical assay in the context of a fatal carfentanil intoxication, revealing the highest carfentanil concentrations reported until now. A 21-year-old male was found dead at home with a note stating that he had taken carfentanil with suicidal intentions. A foil bag and plastic bag labeled "C.50" were found at the scene. These bags were similar to a sample obtained by the Belgian Early Warning System on Drugs from a German darknet shop and to those found in the context of a fatality in Norway. Blood, urine and vitreous, obtained during autopsy, were screened with a newly developed opioid activity reporter assay able to detect compounds based on their μ-opioid receptor activity rather than their chemical structure. All extracts showed strong opioid activity. Results were confirmed by a bioanalytical assay, which revealed extremely high concentrations for carfentanil and norcarfentanil. It should be noted that carfentanil concentrations are typically in pg/mL, but here they were 92 ng/mL in blood, 2.8 ng/mL in urine, and 23 ng/mL in vitreous. The blood and vitreous contained 0.532 and 0.300 ng/mL norcarfentanil, respectively. No norcarfentanil was detected in urine. This is the first report where a novel activity-based opioid screening assay was successfully deployed in a forensic case. Confirmation and quantification using a validated bioanalytical procedure revealed the, to our knowledge, highest carfentanil concentrations reported in humans so far.

    Associated health topics:

    Health and disease monitoring [7]
    Quality of healthcare [8]

    Source URL:https://sciensano.be/en/biblio/activity-based-detection-and-bioanalytical-confirmation-a-fatal-carfentanil-intoxication

    Links
    [1] https://sciensano.be/sites/default/files/fphar-09-00486_1.pdf [2] https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2018.00486/ [3] https://sciensano.be/en/biblio?f%5Bauthor%5D=86393&f%5Bsearch%5D=Annelies%20Cannaert [4] https://sciensano.be/en/biblio?f%5Bauthor%5D=86394&f%5Bsearch%5D=Lars%20Ambach [5] https://sciensano.be/en/biblio?f%5Bauthor%5D=2328&f%5Bsearch%5D=Peter%20Blanckaert [6] https://sciensano.be/en/biblio?f%5Bauthor%5D=86396&f%5Bsearch%5D=Christophe%20P%20Stove [7] https://sciensano.be/en/health-topics/health-and-disease-monitoring [8] https://sciensano.be/en/health-topics/quality-healthcare