Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jul;40(2):302-311.
doi: 10.1007/s11419-022-00614-0. Epub 2022 Mar 14.

Histological paraffin-embedded block: a good alternative specimen to detect the use of opiates at least 20 years ago

Domenico Di Candia  1 , Michele Boracchi  2 , Guendalina Gentile  1 , Gaia Giordano  1 , Riccardo Zoja  1
Affiliations

Histological paraffin-embedded block: a good alternative specimen to detect the use of opiates at least 20 years ago

Domenico Di Candia et al. Forensic Toxicol. 2022 Jul.

Abstract

Purpose: Since the solely certain remnants of a performed autopsy are formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples, stored in the archives of every institute of legal medicine, we managed to extract molecules of toxicological interest from these specimens.

Methods: We assessed the analysis of ten fresh liver samples collected from heroin-related deaths and then histologically processed the same samples. The embedded blocks were then extracted by means of a new extracting method and the eluates were measured. We also selected five toxicological cases of heroin-related fatalities that were examined 20 years ago, collected the toxicological result documents of the analysis that were carried out at the time and then processed the corresponding FFPE liver samples that were stored in the archives.

Results: We managed to isolate heroine-related metabolites from 20-year-old paraffin-embedded blocks and calculated ratios to evaluate the performance of our new extraction.

Conclusions: According to our study, it is feasible to carry out a toxicological examination on old histological samples and, therefore, this matrix can be considered as a new alternative specimen for chemical-analytical evaluations of past cases or when fresh samples are not available anymore. The new extractive method was evaluated as efficient in treating these complex, paraffin-embedded samples. It was surprising that the target compounds could be quantitated from FFPE bocks created as long as 20 years ago.

Keywords: Good alternative specimen; Heroin-related deaths; New extractive method; Paraffin-embedded blocks; Stability for 20 years postmortem.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest associated with this manuscript.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Selected reaction monitoring (SRM) chromatograms highlighting morphine (top row) and morphine-3-glucoronide + morphine-6-glucuronide (third row) and their respective product ion spectra detected from a freshly embedded paraffin block belonging to case no. 8
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
SRM chromatograms and their respective product ion spectra showing the analytes detected in a paraffin block embedded 20 years ago (case no. 2). SRM chromatograms: the top row, morphine; the third row, morphine-3-glucuronide + morphine-6-glucuronide
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Dinis-Oliveira RJ, Carvalho F, Duarte JA, Remião F, Marques A, Santos A, Magalhães T. Collection of biological samples in forensic toxicology. Toxicol Mech Methods. 2010;20:363–414. doi: 10.3109/15376516.2010.497976. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Orfanidis A, Gika H, Mastrogianni O, Krokos A, Theodoridis G, Zaggelidou E, Raikos N. Determination of drugs of abuse and pharmaceuticals in skeletal tissue by UHPLC–MS/MS. Forensic Sci Int. 2018;290:137–145. doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2018.07.004. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Giordano G, Biehler-Gomez L, Seneci P, Cattaneo C, Di Candia D. Detecting drugs in dry bone: a pilot study of skeletal remains with a post-mortem interval over 23 years. Int J Legal Med. 2021;135:457–463. doi: 10.1007/s00414-020-02494-8. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Alunni-Perret V, Kintz P, Ludes B, Ohayon P, Quatrehomme G. Determination of heroin after embalmment. Forensic Sci Int. 2003;134:36–39. doi: 10.1016/S0379-0738(03)00082-3. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Nikolaou P, Papoutsis I, Dona A, Spiliopoulou C, Athanaselis S. Toxicological analysis of formalin-fixed or embalmed tissues: a review. Forensic Sci Int. 2013;233:312–319. doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2013.10.006. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources