Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

GHB. Club drug or confusing artifact?

S B Karch1, B G Stephens, G V Nazareno

  • 1Assistant Medical Examiners, City and County of San Francisco, CA 94103, USA. fdaa@batnet.com

The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology
|September 21, 2001
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Cocaine metabolism in hyperthermic patients with excited delirium.

Journal of clinical forensic medicine·2005
Same author

Myocardial disarray: an architectural disorganization linked with adrenergic stress?

International journal of cardiology·2005
Same author

Does ethanol enhance cocaine toxicity?

Journal of clinical forensic medicine·2004
Same author

Intralaboratory reliability of serologic and urine testing for Lyme disease.

The American journal of medicine·2001
Same author

Comparison of urine to sweat patch test results in court ordered testing.

Forensic science international·2001
Same author

Drugs in postmortem adipose tissues: evidence of antemortem deposition.

Forensic science international·2001

Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) can be a postmortem artifact. Proper blood preservation with NaF is crucial for accurate GHB detection and determining its role in fatalities.

Area of Science:

  • Forensic Toxicology
  • Postmortem Analysis
  • Drug Metabolism

Background:

  • Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) is a substance that can be detected in postmortem samples.
  • Determining whether GHB is a pre- or postmortem artifact is critical in forensic investigations.

Observation:

  • Two cases are presented where GHB was detected in decedents. Case 1 involved a methamphetamine abuser with myocardial fibrosis and GHB levels similar to subanesthetic doses. Case 2 showed higher GHB concentrations along with cocaine and MDMA.
  • Both decedents had consumed alcohol and were in a postabsorptive state, indicated by blood to vitreous ratios below 0.90.

Findings:

  • GHB can be produced artifactually if blood is not preserved with sodium fluoride (NaF).
  • In Case 1, GHB levels could be consistent with therapeutic doses, and myocardial fibrosis may have been the primary cause of death.

Related Experiment Videos

  • In Case 2, the history suggests significant GHB ingestion, and ethanol interference with GHB metabolism likely contributed to respiratory arrest, indicating GHB as the cause of death.

    • Implications:

    • Accurate determination of GHB's role in fatalities requires analyzing both blood and urine, using NaF-preserved blood, and obtaining a detailed case history.
    • Postmortem GHB production can occur even in antemortem blood samples preserved with citrate.
    • Without proper collection and preservation methods, GHB detection alone is insufficient to establish causality.