Relationship between methamphetamine concentrations in hair root, blood and urine samples in postmortem cases

Abstract

Urine and blood samples are normally used to determine methamphetamine (MA) level in forensic and clinical toxicology for assessment of illicit MA use. In cases in which both samples are unavailable or contaminated, hair root has been proposed as an alternative for evaluation of recent MA use. The goal of this study was to examine the correlations of MA concentrations in hair root, blood and urine samples in postmortem cases. Samples were collected from 45 deceased persons with MA-positive urine samples in a screening test using MA strips. MA concentrations in hair root, blood and urine samples were detected by gas chromatography coupled with a triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. The results showed that MA concentrations were linearly correlated in hair root vs. blood, hair root vs. urine, and urine vs. blood, with correlation coefficients (r) of 0.939 (p ఼0.001), 0.579 (p = 0.001), and 0.597 (p = 0.007), respectively