Analysis and Distribution of Thc, 11-oh-thc and Thc-cooh in Postmortem Fluids and Tissues

Marijuana is the most commonly abused illicit drug worldwide. The psychoactive compound ?9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) can be found in Cannabis sativa and provides a euphoric feeling, distorted sense of time, and loss of inhibition. Numerous studies have also looked at THC impairment of memory, cognitive skills, and psychomotor skills. The Federal Aviation Administration�s Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) conducts toxicological analysis on aviation fatalities. Due to the severe trauma to the body associated with aviation accidents, the laboratory relies on tissues only for analysis in approximately 40% of cases. The purpose of this research is twofold: to develop a sensitive and robust method using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to detect THC and its metabolites 11-OH-THC and THC-COOH in postmortem fluids and tissues; and to determine if there is a postmortem fluid or tissue that can be used as an interpretive aid when blood is not available. The analytical method was validated following SWGTOX guidelines and was used for the analysis of postmortem fluids and tissues from 11 aviation fatalities that had been previously found positive for cannabinoids by GC/MS. Specimens analyzed, when available, included: blood, urine, bile, vitreous humor, brain, lung, liver, kidney, spleen, muscle, and heart. The results of this study showed no consistent distribution of any of the analytes between blood and any other fluid or tissue. The specimens with the highest concentrations cannabinoids are blood, urine, lung, and kidney.Forensic Scienc

Data from: Gene expression correlates of facultative predation in the blow fly Chrysomya rufifacies (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

Effects of intraguild predation (IGP) on omnivores and detritivores are relatively understudied when compared to work on predator guilds. Functional genetic work in IGP is even more limited, but its application can help answer a range of questions related to ultimate and proximate causes of this behavior. Here we integrate behavioral assays and transcriptomic analysis of facultative predation in a blow fly (Diptera: Calliphoridae) to evaluate the prevalence, effect, and correlated gene expression of facultative predation by the invasive species Chrysomya rufifacies. Field work observing donated human cadavers indicated facultative predation by C. rufifacies on the native blow fly Cochliomyia macellaria was rare under undisturbed conditions, owing in part to spatial segregation between species. Laboratory assays under conditions of starvation showed predation had a direct fitness benefit (i.e., survival) to the predator. As a genome is not available for C. rufifacies, a de novo transcriptome was developed and annotated using sequence similarity to Drosophila melanogaster. Under a variety of assembly parameters, several genes were identified as being differentially expressed between predators and non-predators of this species, including genes involved in cell-to-cell signaling, osmotic regulation, starvation responses, and dopamine regulation. Results of this work were integrated to develop a model of the processes and genetic regulation controlling facultative predation