Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 16, 2025

Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Paired with Total Vaporization Solid-Phase Microextraction as a Forensic Tool
Published on: May 25, 2021
Desalkylgidazepam blood concentrations in 63 forensic investigation cases
Sandrine A M Mérette1, Subin Kim1, Michael D Davis2
1Provincial Toxicology Centre, Provincial Health Services Authority, 655 West 12th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4R4, Canada.
Abstract:
Desalkylgidazepam, also known as bromonordiazepam, is the latest designer benzodiazepine to appear in postmortem blood samples in British Columbia. Our laboratory was first alerted to the presence of desalkylgidazepam in seized drug samples in May 2022, and the analyte was added to an in-house library shortly thereafter. Previously acquired spectra from routine death investigation cases were reprocessed using the updated library with the first presumptive identification of desalkylgidazepam occurring in a sample received in April 2022. A standard addition method for the quantitation of desalkylgidazepam in blood samples (from femoral, iliac, jugular and subclavian veins) was validated and consequently used to confirm presence and concentrations of the drug in 63 cases, with an average concentration of 42.2 ± 44.0 ng/mL (median concentration: 24.5 ng/mL; range: 3.7-220.6 ng/mL). Similar to detections of other novel benzodiazepines, co-occurrence of desalkylgidazepam with opioids and/or stimulants was common. To our knowledge, this paper is the first to report desalkylgidazepam concentrations in postmortem blood samples.
More Related Videos
10:17High-throughput and Comprehensive Drug Surveillance Using Multisegment Injection-Capillary Electrophoresis-Mass Spectrometry
Published on: April 23, 2019
10:13Author Spotlight: An Efficient Methodology to Confidently Differentiate and Characterize Fentanyl Analogs
Published on: November 8, 2024
Related Concept Videos
Carboxylic Acids to Methylesters: Alkylation using Diazomethane
Drug Concentrations: Measurements
Plasma...
Sedatives and Hypnotics Drugs: Benzodiazepines
Benzodiazepines work by enhancing the effects of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA. They bind to the GABAA receptor, increasing its affinity for GABA, which opens chloride...
CNS Depressants: Barbiturates and Benzodiazepines
Nonlinear Pharmacokinetics: Dependence of Elimination Half-Life and Dose Clearance
A study on guinea pigs examined the...