earticle

영어

Synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) are the most abused new psychoactive substances. Although fatal cases related to SCs have been reported in multiple countries, reports on blood concentrations associated with intoxication are limited. Over the past three years, ADB-BUTINACA was detected in two individual fatal cases in Korea. This study presents the blood concentrations of ADB-BUTINACA in these cases. Blood samples were treated with methanol to precipitate proteins. The screening and quantitative analysis were performed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization in the positive ion mode. Both the limits of detection and the limits of quantification for ADB-BUTINACA were 0.5 ng/mL. Validation results showed good linearity in the range of 0.5-50 ng/mL. ADB-BUTINACA was detected and quantified in cardiac blood and peripheral blood of two individual fatal cases. The determined concentration of ADB-BUTINACA were 33.40 ng/mL and 11.56 ng/mL in cardiac blood, 14.73 ng/mL and 13.75 ng/mL in peripheral blood, respectively. Along with parent form of ADB-BUTINACA, its metabolites were analyzed. In one case ADB-BUTINACA 3,3-dimethylbutanoic acid metabolite was detected and the concentration of the metabolite were 1.44 ng/mL in cardiac blood, 1.96 ng/mL in peripheral blood. Due to lack of previous published reports on blood concentrations of ADB-BUTINACA in fatal cases, toxicological assessment remains challenging. The findings from these authentic cases are expected to serve as an important reference for future forensic investigations.