Understanding the postmortem changes in concentrations of methanol in ocular matrices in rabbits

Abstract

Death due to abuse and accidental ingestion of methanol is widely known around the globe. The paper presents the postmortem changes in concentrations of methanol in the vitreous humor, aqueous humor, and ocular tissues in a rabbit model in methanol intoxication. Rabbits were intoxicated with methanol at a dose of 6.3 ml/kg through oral gavage. After 3.5 h of methanol administration, the rabbits were sacrificed. Vitreous humor, aqueous humor, and ocular tissues were collected both, perimortem (immediately) and postmortem (17 h post-death). Whole blood and plasma samples were also collected to explore the correlation between levels of methanol in whole blood/plasma and ocular fluids/ocular tissues if any. All the samples were analyzed by Headspace Gas Chromatography. The analysis revealed a decrease in methanol levels at postmortem for all the matrices, except for retina-choroid than its perimortem value. For retina-choroid, no significant change in methanol levels at postmortem was found.

Keywords: Methanol; Ocular tissues; Postmortem; Rabbits; Vitreous humor; Whole blood.