Equine grass sickness : the geochemical connection

A new study uses the British Geological Survey’s geochemical map to investigate whether minerals in the environment are a factor in this predominantly fatal neurodegenerative disease of horse

Equine grass sickness in Scotland: a case-control study of environmental geochemical risk factors

Epidemiological investigations suggest that soil macro- and micro-nutrients may be a trigger for the occurrence of equine grass sickness (EGS). However, there is limited information regarding relationships between exposure to geochemical elements and the occurrence of EGS. Objectives To determine whether the geographical distribution of EGS cases referred to the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies was associated with the presence or absence of particular geochemical elements in the environment

Simultaneous analysis of 22 antiepileptic drugs in postmortem blood, serum and plasma using LC-MS-MS with a focus on their role in forensic cases

In recent years, there has been a growth in reports of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) being misused on their own or in combination with other drugs of abuse in a variety of toxicological case types such as drug abuse, suicide, overdose and drug facilitated crime. To our knowledge, there are no simultaneous quantification methods for the analysis of the most commonly encountered AEDs in postmortem whole blood and clinical plasma/serum samples at the same time. A simple, accurate and cost-effective liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometric (LC–MS-MS) method has been developed and validated for the simultaneous quantification of carbamazepine (CBZ) and its metabolite CBZ-10,11-epoxide, eslicarbazepine acetate, oxcarbazepine and S-licarbazepine as a metabolite, gabapentin, lacosamide, lamotrigine, levetiracetam, pregabalin, phenobarbital, phenytoin and its metabolite 5-(p-hydroxyphenyl)-5-phenylhydantoin, retigabine (ezogabine) and its metabolite N-acetyl retigabine, rufinamide, stiripentol, topiramate, tiagabine, valproic acid, vigabatrin and zonisamide in postmortem whole blood, serum and plasma which would be suitable for routine forensic toxicological analysis and therapeutic drug monitoring. All AEDs were detected and quantified within 17 min without endogenous interferences. The correlation coefficient (R2) was >0.995 for all AEDs with accuracy ranging from 90 to 113% and precision <13% for all analytes. The recovery ranged from 70 to 98%. No carryover was observed in a blank control injected after the highest standard and the matrix effect was acceptable and ranged from 90 to 120%. The method has been successfully verified using authentic case samples that had previously been quantified using different methods

Validation of the Immunalysis (R) Microplate ELISA for the detection of methamphetamine in hair

The object of this study was to validate the Immunalysis Methamphetamine Microplate ELISA for detecting methamphetamine in hair. Twenty-nine scalp hair samples were obtained as routine cases submitted to the National Institute of Scientific Investigation in Seoul by the police. The hair samples were washed with 0.1% sodium dodecyl sulfate, distilled water, and dichloromethane. The samples were screened using the Immunalysis Methamphetamine Microplate ELISA and confirmed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Twenty-eight hair samples were screened and confirmed as positive for methamphetamine. For ELISA analysis, the samples were extracted by incubation in monobasic phosphate buffer for 1 h at 60°C. For GC-MS, the samples were extracted for 20h in methanol containing 1% hydrochloric acid. The methanol/acid solution was evaporated to dryness and the resulting residue was derivatized with trifluoroacetic anhydride. Methamphetamine and amphetamine were detected using selective ion monitoring (SIM) mode. The Immunalysis Methamphetamine Microplate ELISA demonstrated a sensitivity and specificity of 97% and 100%, respectively, using a cut-off concentration of 0.5 ng/mg d-methamphetamine. The ELISA kit showed 63% cross-reactivity with d,l-methamphetamine and did not cross-react to any significant extent with the licit l-methamphetamine isomer. The intra- and interassay precisions were 2.5% and 3.7%, respectively