Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 12, 2025
10:17
High-throughput and Comprehensive Drug Surveillance Using Multisegment Injection-Capillary Electrophoresis-Mass Spectrometry
Published on: April 23, 2019
10.1K
Identification and Quantification of Antipsychotics in Blood Samples by LC-MS-MS: Case Reports and Data from Three
Paula Proença1, Carla Monteiro1, Carla Mustra1
1Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal e Ciências Forenses, I.P., Delegação do Centro, Coimbra, Portugal.
Journal of Analytical Toxicology
|August 12, 2020
Summary
Antipsychotic drugs are increasingly found in postmortem cases, with quetiapine and olanzapine being most common. Forensic toxicology analysis is crucial for detecting these drugs, even at therapeutic levels, to understand their role in deaths, including suicides.
Area of Science:
- Forensic Toxicology
- Clinical Chemistry
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Antipsychotic drugs (AP) are essential for treating schizophrenia and psychosis.
- Atypical AP, like quetiapine, dominate current prescriptions.
- AP are significant in forensic toxicology due to potential abuse, intoxication, and suicide involvement.
Purpose of the Study:
- To retrospectively analyze AP-positive cases in postmortem samples.
- To develop and validate a method for simultaneous determination of 16 AP in blood.
- To assess the prevalence and concentrations of AP in forensic autopsies.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of autopsy cases from Portugal (2016-2018).
- Development of a quantitative liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry assay.
- Analysis of 3,588 toxicological requests, identifying 351 AP-positive cases.
Main Results:
- 351 out of 1,413 drug-positive cases (24.8%) were positive for AP.
- Quetiapine (36.5%) and olanzapine (20.8%) were the most prevalent AP.
- 25 cases showed AP blood concentrations above the therapeutic range, with 36% linked to suicide.
Conclusions:
- Antipsychotics are a growing class of drugs of interest in forensic toxicology.
- Accurate measurement of AP, including therapeutic levels, is vital in postmortem investigations.
- A sensitive analytical method is necessary to detect AP across a wide concentration range.
