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Detection of Morphine and Opioids in Fingernails: Immunohistochemical Analysis and Confirmation with Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled with High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry

This study aimed to investigate the detection of morphine in fingernails from forensic autopsies using immunohistochemistry (IHC), with confirmation by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS). A primary antibody specific to morphine an...

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Autores principales: Scendoni, Roberto, Bury, Emanuele, Buratti, Erika, Froldi, Rino, Cippitelli, Marta, Mietti, Gianmario, Cingolani, Mariano
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9331542/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35893853
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxics10080420
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author Scendoni, Roberto
Bury, Emanuele
Buratti, Erika
Froldi, Rino
Cippitelli, Marta
Mietti, Gianmario
Cingolani, Mariano
author_facet Scendoni, Roberto
Bury, Emanuele
Buratti, Erika
Froldi, Rino
Cippitelli, Marta
Mietti, Gianmario
Cingolani, Mariano
author_sort Scendoni, Roberto
collection PubMed
description This study aimed to investigate the detection of morphine in fingernails from forensic autopsies using immunohistochemistry (IHC), with confirmation by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS). A primary antibody specific to morphine and a secondary antibody conjugated to horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was used. IHC on specimens of Subjects A and B (both drug addicts) resulted in the detection of morphine on a cell layer of the nail plate matrix. UHPLC-HRMS and GC-MS analysis showed that Subject A had a morphine concentration of 0.35 ng/mg in the fingernail and 472 ng/mL in the blood, while Subject B reached 1.23 ng/mg in the fingernail and 360 ng/ml in the blood. Most of those matrices were positive for codeine, methadone, EDDP, and 6-MAM. The use of IHC in Subject C (a former addict) showed no positivity for morphine in the fingernail, while the UHPLC-HRMS analysis confirmed its absence in the fingernail and blood. Additionally, an analysis of the scalp or pubic hair of the subjects was carried out using UHPLC-HRMS. The results suggest that IHC can be used to establish the site of accumulation of morphine in the nail matrix; for postmortem diagnosis; and that basic substances can be detected by UHPLC-HRMS. There are no previous studies on the use of IHC as a technique for forensic purposes in unconventional matrices, such as nails.
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spelling pubmed-93315422022-07-29 Detection of Morphine and Opioids in Fingernails: Immunohistochemical Analysis and Confirmation with Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled with High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry Scendoni, Roberto Bury, Emanuele Buratti, Erika Froldi, Rino Cippitelli, Marta Mietti, Gianmario Cingolani, Mariano Toxics Brief Report This study aimed to investigate the detection of morphine in fingernails from forensic autopsies using immunohistochemistry (IHC), with confirmation by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS). A primary antibody specific to morphine and a secondary antibody conjugated to horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was used. IHC on specimens of Subjects A and B (both drug addicts) resulted in the detection of morphine on a cell layer of the nail plate matrix. UHPLC-HRMS and GC-MS analysis showed that Subject A had a morphine concentration of 0.35 ng/mg in the fingernail and 472 ng/mL in the blood, while Subject B reached 1.23 ng/mg in the fingernail and 360 ng/ml in the blood. Most of those matrices were positive for codeine, methadone, EDDP, and 6-MAM. The use of IHC in Subject C (a former addict) showed no positivity for morphine in the fingernail, while the UHPLC-HRMS analysis confirmed its absence in the fingernail and blood. Additionally, an analysis of the scalp or pubic hair of the subjects was carried out using UHPLC-HRMS. The results suggest that IHC can be used to establish the site of accumulation of morphine in the nail matrix; for postmortem diagnosis; and that basic substances can be detected by UHPLC-HRMS. There are no previous studies on the use of IHC as a technique for forensic purposes in unconventional matrices, such as nails. MDPI 2022-07-26 /pmc/articles/PMC9331542/ /pubmed/35893853 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxics10080420 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Brief Report
Scendoni, Roberto
Bury, Emanuele
Buratti, Erika
Froldi, Rino
Cippitelli, Marta
Mietti, Gianmario
Cingolani, Mariano
Detection of Morphine and Opioids in Fingernails: Immunohistochemical Analysis and Confirmation with Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled with High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry
title Detection of Morphine and Opioids in Fingernails: Immunohistochemical Analysis and Confirmation with Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled with High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry
title_full Detection of Morphine and Opioids in Fingernails: Immunohistochemical Analysis and Confirmation with Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled with High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry
title_fullStr Detection of Morphine and Opioids in Fingernails: Immunohistochemical Analysis and Confirmation with Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled with High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry
title_full_unstemmed Detection of Morphine and Opioids in Fingernails: Immunohistochemical Analysis and Confirmation with Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled with High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry
title_short Detection of Morphine and Opioids in Fingernails: Immunohistochemical Analysis and Confirmation with Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled with High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry
title_sort detection of morphine and opioids in fingernails: immunohistochemical analysis and confirmation with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry
topic Brief Report
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9331542/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35893853
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxics10080420
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