Determination of Anticoagulant Rodenticides and α-Chloralose in Human Hair. Application to a Real Case.

Abstract

Anticoagulant rodenticides are the largest group of poisons used to kill harmful rodents. Their fundamental mode of action consists in the inhibition of the vitamin K epoxide reductase, which causes blood-clotting alteration, ultimately leading to hemorrhagic events as the cause of death. In this study, we developed an UHPLC-MS-MS for the simultaneous determination of 10 anticoagulant hydroxycoumarine rodenticides, plus α-chloralose in human hair, with the scope of detecting potential trace of chronological poison exposure in clinical and forensic cases. The method was fully validated and applied to a case of intentional poisoning perpetrated by administration of difenacoum and α-chloralose to a 97-year-old woman, who was hospitalized because of severe symptoms, including drowsiness, convulsions, pallor and hematoma. Hair sample from the victim was segmentally analyzed. Difenacoum was detected in the proximal 3-cm hair segment at the concentration of 2.9 pg/mg. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report that exposure to difenacoum is detectable in real hair samples. The other target analyte found in the hair sample was α-chloralose, which was detected in the 0-3 cm segment at the concentration of 85 pg/mg. The two subsequent and consecutive segments (3-6 cm and 6-9 cm) showed only traces of difenacoum (below LOQ) and low but quantifiable concentrations of α-chloralose (29 and 6 pg/mg, respectively). Therefore, hair segmental analysis allowed us to conclude that the victim was repeatedly exposed to two poisons in the period corresponding to the first segment of hair.

• Authors: Marta Leporati, Alberto Salomone, Giambattista Golè, Marco Vincenti
• Journal: Journal of analytical toxicology (J Anal Toxicol) Vol. 40 Issue 4 Pg. 277-85 (May 2016) ISSN: 1945-2403 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 26984200 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article)
• Copyright: © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: [email protected].

Chemical References

• 4-Hydroxycoumarins
• Anticoagulants
• Hypnotics and Sedatives
• Rodenticides
• Chloralose
• difenacoum

Topics

• 4-Hydroxycoumarins (analysis)
• Aged, 80 and over
• Anticoagulants (analysis)
• Chloralose (analysis)
• Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
• Female
• Hair (chemistry)
• Humans
• Hypnotics and Sedatives (analysis)
• Reproducibility of Results
• Rodenticides (analysis)
• Tandem Mass Spectrometry