{Reference Type}: Journal Article
{Title}: Identification of Benzodiazepine Use Based on Dried Blood Stains Analysis.
{Author}: Fernández-López L;Rodríguez S;Cánovas-Cabanes A;Teruel-Fernández FJ;Almela P;Del Rincón JH;Navarro-Zaragoza J;Falcón M;
{Journal}: Pharmaceuticals (Basel)
{Volume}: 17
{Issue}: 6
{Year}: 2024 Jun 18
{Factor}: 5.215
{DOI}: 10.3390/ph17060799
{Abstract}: Biological matrices are typically used in forensic toxicological or pharmacological analysis: mainly blood, vitreous humor or urine. However, there are many cases in which crimes are a consequence of drug intoxication or drug abuse and they are not closed because over the months or years the samples become altered or decomposed. A dried blood stains test (DBS-MS) has recently been proposed to be used in drug toxicology when blood is found at a crime scene. This test could help an investigator to reveal what a person had consumed before the perpetration of the crime. In order to check the possibilities of this test, we analyzed several dried blood stains located on a cotton fabric. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine if the analysis of a dried blood spot located on a cotton fabric could be an alternate source of obtaining toxicological results, particularly regarding benzodiazepines. We splashed blood stains on cotton fabric with different concentrations of the following benzodiazepines: alprazolam, bromazepam, clonazepam, diazepam and lorazepam, which were dried for 96 h and subsequently quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). Our results show that it is possible to identify several benzodiazepines contained in a cotton fabric blood stain; consequently, this method may add another sample option to the toxicological analysis of biological vestiges found at a crime scene.