SOFT 2004 Meeting Abstracts - Society of Forensic Toxicologists

P4
INFLUENCE OF PUTREFACTION AND WATERY CIRCUMSTANCES ON THE
CONCENTRATIONS OF ACONITINE IN TISSUES
Hideyuki Hayakawa 1 *, Makoto Nihira zl , Makiko Hayashida 2l , Morihisa Sagil), Toshiji Mukai l ) and
Youkichi Ohn0 2 ; 1) Department ofLegaJ Medicine, St. Marianna University School of Medicine
2) Department ofLegaJ Medicine, Nippon Medical School
Aconitium plants (Ranunculaceae) are showy herbaceous flowering perennials that are widely distributed in the mountainous or
cooler parts of northern temperate zones. They contain highly toxic Aconitum alkaloids such as aconitine, mesaconitine,
hypaconitine and jesaconitine in the root, leaf and stem. Because of their high toxicity, Aconitum alkaloids have been used in
suicides and homicides. In such cases, quantitative analysis ofAconitum alkalo ids in the body fluids and tissues is necessary to
determine the cause of death. For correct diagnosis of poisoning in cases where only putrefied material is available, it is
necessary to investigate the influence of putrefaction on the concentrations ofAconitum alkaloids in body tissues. Moreover, we
sometimes encounter cases of putrefied cadavers floating in the water, where toxicological analysis is necessary. Although the
rate of non-enzymatic hydrolysis of aconitine dissolved in phosphate buffer has been studied, no reports are available on
postmortem changes of Aconitum alkaloids in putrefied tissue. Therefore, we performed animal experiments to determine the
influence of putrefaction over a 4-weekperiod on the concentrations of Aconitum alkaloids .in body tissues after oral
administration of aconitine; one group of animals has been kept in the water for putrefaction, as a model of putrefied humans
found in the water. ICR mice were divided into a whole-body storage group and an excised-organ storage group. Aconitine was
administered orally at a dose of 4 mglkg body weight to the mice, which were sacrificed within 35 min; for the whole-body
storage group, each cadaver ofthe animals was placed in a bottle containing 750 ml water, followed by incubation at 20 or 35 "C
for 1, 3, 7, 14 and 28 days. For the excised-organ storage group, the liver and brain were separately incubated without any water
at 20 'C for the same intervals. The concentrations of aconitine and its hydrolysis products were measured by gas
chromatography-mass spectrometry in the selected ion monitoring mode. In the whole-body storage group, the concentration
of aconitine markedly increased in the liver and brain, showing postmortem diffusion of aconitine from the stomach.
Concentrations of benz oyla conine and aconine also increased in the liver; but when expressed as ratios of the amounts of these
substances to the total amounts of alkaloids, the ratios of aconitine gradually decreased, while those of its hydrolysis products
increased. In the excised-organ storage group, no increase ofaconitine concentration was observed; while benzoylaconine in the
liver increased significantly on days 3 and 7. Only small amounts of aconitine were detected in the bottle water. The above
results show that aconitine changes through hydrolysis and postmortem diffusion. But aconitine can be detected in the liver even
on day 28. Our results of the whole-body storage group suggest that the postmortem diffusion of aconitine from the stomach to
the brain via tissues and body fluids may occur in watery circumstances. Caution should be taken against the postmortem
diffusion of aconitine for victims found in the water.
Keywords: Aconitine, Putrefilction, Postmortem diffusion
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