Fatal intoxication due to brucine

Abstract

A sensitive method for identifying and quantifying brucine by means of liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry is presented in this article. Based on a solid-phase extraction for human serum, the validation indicated limits of detection and quantification of 0.12 and 0.23 ng/mL, respectively. In one case of lethal suicidal brucine monointoxication, brucine concentrations of 1.51 μg/mL, 1.69 μg/mL, 9.94 μg/mL, 16.4 μg/g, 0.99 μg/g, 0.75 μg/g, and 1.95 mg/g were determined in femoral blood, urine, bile collected from the gallbladder, liver tissue, cerebellum, cerebrum, and stomach contents, respectively.