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Pigaiani N, Musile G, Scott KS, Dye DW, Ausania F, Davis GG, Bortolotti F. Post-mortem formation of ethanol: Is 1-propanol a reliable marker? A proof-of-concept study using an in vitro putrefactive environment setup. J Forensic Sci 2024; 69:974-985. [PMID: 38317608 DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.15479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2023] [Revised: 01/06/2024] [Accepted: 01/23/2024] [Indexed: 02/07/2024]
Abstract
Ethanol is the psychoactive substance identified most frequently in post-mortem specimens. Unfortunately, interpreting post-mortem ethanol concentrations can be difficult because of post-mortem alcohol redistribution and the possibility of post-mortem alcohol neogenesis. Indeed, in the time interval between death and sample collection, the decedent may be exposed to non-controlled environments for an extended period, promoting microbial colonization. Many authors report that in the presence of carbohydrates and other biomolecules, various species of bacteria, yeast, and fungi can synthesize ethanol and other volatile substances in vitro and in vivo. The aim of this study was to study the impact of several variables on microbial ethanol production as well as develop a mathematical model that could estimate the microbial-produced ethanol in correlation with the most significant consensual produced higher alcohol, 1-propanol. An experimental setup was developed using human blood samples and cadaveric fragments incubated under strictly anaerobic conditions to produce a novel substrate, "cadaveric putrefactive blood" mimicking post-mortem corpse conditions. The samples were analyzed daily for ethanol and 1-propanol using an HS-GC-FID validated method. The formation of ethanol was evaluated considering different parameters such as putrefactive stage, blood glucose concentration, storage temperature, and storage time. Statistical analysis was performed using the Mann-Whitney non-parametric test and simple linear regression. The results indicate that the early putrefactive stage, high blood glucose concentration, high temperature, and time of incubation increase microbial ethanol production. In addition, the developed mathematical equation confirms the feasibility of using 1-propanol as a marker of post-mortem ethanol production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicola Pigaiani
- Unit of Forensic Medicine, Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
- Division of Forensics, Department of Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
| | - Giacomo Musile
- Unit of Forensic Medicine, Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Karen S Scott
- Division of Laboratory Medicine, Department of Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
| | - Daniel W Dye
- Division of Forensics, Department of Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
| | - Francesco Ausania
- Unit of Forensic Medicine, Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Gregory G Davis
- Division of Forensics, Department of Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
| | - Federica Bortolotti
- Unit of Forensic Medicine, Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
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Olds ML, Jones AW. Preanalytical factors influencing the results of ethanol analysis in postmortem specimens. J Anal Toxicol 2024; 48:9-26. [PMID: 37804205 DOI: 10.1093/jat/bkad078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2023] [Revised: 08/22/2023] [Accepted: 10/02/2023] [Indexed: 10/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Excessive drinking and drunkenness are underlying factors in many fatal accidents, which make the quantitative determination of ethanol in postmortem (PM) specimens an essential part of all unnatural death investigations. The same analytical methods are used to determine ethanol in blood taken from living and deceased persons although the interpretation of the results is more complicated in medical examiner cases owing to various preanalytical factors. The biggest problem is that under anaerobic conditions ethanol can be produced naturally in decomposed bodies by microbial activity and fermentation of blood glucose. Ways are needed to differentiate antemortem ingestion of ethanol from PM synthesis. One approach involves the determination of ethanol in alternative specimens, such as bile, cerebrospinal fluid, vitreous humor and/or urine, and comparison of results with blood alcohol concentration (BAC). Another approach involves the analysis of various alcohol biomarkers, such as ethyl glucuronide, ethyl sulfate and/or phosphatidylethanol or the urinary metabolites of serotonin 5-hydroxytryptophol/5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HTOL/5-HIAA). If ethanol had been produced in the body by microbial activity, the blood samples should also contain other low-molecular volatiles, such as acetaldehyde, n-propanol and/or n-butanol. The inclusion of 1-2% w/v sodium or potassium fluoride, as an enzyme inhibitor, in all PM specimens is essential to diminish the risk of ethanol being generated after sampling, such as during shipment and storage prior to analysis. Furthermore, much might be gained if the analytical cut-off for reporting positive BAC was raised from 0.01 to 0.02 g% when PM blood is analyzed. During putrefaction low BACs are more often produced after death than high BACs. Therefore, when the cadaver is obviously decomposed, a pragmatic approach would be to subtract 0.05 g% from the mean analytical result. Any remaining BAC is expected to give a more reliable indication of whether alcohol had been consumed before death.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria L Olds
- Fort Worth Police Department, Crime Laboratory, East Lancaster Ave, Fort Worth, TX 3616, United States
| | - Alan W Jones
- Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Division of Clinical Chemistry and Pharmacology, University of Linköping, Linköping 58183, Sweden
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Boumba VA, Exadactylou P, Velivasi G, Ziavrou KS, Fragkouli K, Kovatsi L. The frequency of ethanol, higher alcohols and other low molecular weight volatiles in postmortem blood samples from unnatural deaths. Forensic Sci Int 2022; 341:111503. [DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2022.111503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2022] [Revised: 10/14/2022] [Accepted: 10/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Boumba VA. Modeling Postmortem Ethanol Production/Insights into the Origin of Higher Alcohols. Molecules 2022; 27:molecules27030700. [PMID: 35163964 PMCID: PMC8840458 DOI: 10.3390/molecules27030700] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2021] [Revised: 01/16/2022] [Accepted: 01/19/2022] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The forensic toxicologist is challenged to provide scientific evidence to distinguish the source of ethanol (antemortem ingestion or microbial production) determined in the postmortem blood and to properly interpret the relevant blood alcohol concentration (BAC) results, in regard to ethanol levels at death and subsequent behavioral impairment of the person at the time of death. Higher alcohols (1-propanol, 1-butanol, isobutanol, 2-methyl-1-butanol (isoamyl-alcohol), and 3-methyl-2-butanol (amyl-alcohol)) are among the volatile compounds that are often detected in postmortem specimens and have been correlated with putrefaction and microbial activity. This brief review investigates the role of the higher alcohols as biomarkers of postmortem, microbial ethanol production, notably, regarding the modeling of postmortem ethanol production. Main conclusions of this contribution are, firstly, that the higher alcohols are qualitative and quantitative indicators of microbial ethanol production, and, secondly that the respective models of microbial ethanol production are tools offering additional data to interpret properly the origin of the ethanol concentrations measured in postmortem cases. More studies are needed to clarify current uncertainties about the origin of higher alcohols in postmortem specimens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vassiliki A Boumba
- Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece
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Dinis-Oliveira RJ. The Auto-Brewery Syndrome: A Perfect Metabolic "Storm" with Clinical and Forensic Implications. J Clin Med 2021; 10:4637. [PMID: 34682761 PMCID: PMC8537665 DOI: 10.3390/jcm10204637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2021] [Revised: 10/02/2021] [Accepted: 10/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Auto-brewery syndrome (ABS) is a rare, unstudied, unknown, and underreported phenomenon in modern medicine. Patients with this syndrome become inebriated and may suffer the medical and social implications of alcoholism, including arrest for inebriated driving. The pathophysiology of ABS is reportedly due to a fungal type dysbiosis of the gut that ferments some carbohydrates into ethanol and may mimic a food allergy or intolerance. This syndrome should be considered in patients with chronic obstruction or hypomotility presenting with elevated breath and blood alcohol concentrations, especially after a high carbohydrate intake. A glucose challenge test should be performed as the confirmatory test. Treatment typically includes antifungal drugs combined with changes in lifestyle and nutrition. Additional studies are particularly needed on the human microbiome to shed light on how imbalances of commensal bacteria in the gut allow yeast to colonize on a pathological level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ricardo Jorge Dinis-Oliveira
- TOXRUN—Toxicology Research Unit, University Institute of Health Sciences, Advanced Polytechnic and University Cooperative (CESPU), CRL, 4585-116 Gandra, Portugal; or or ; Tel.: +351-224-157-216
- Department of Public Health and Forensic Sciences and Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal
- UCIBIO-Applied Molecular Biosciences Unit, REQUIMTE, Laboratory of Toxicology, Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira nº 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
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Velivasi G, Kourkoumelis N, Sakkas H, Boumba VA. Modeling microbial ethanol production by S. aureus, K. pneumoniae, and E. faecalis under aerobic/anaerobic conditions - applicability to laboratory cultures and real postmortem cases. Int J Legal Med 2021; 135:2555-2565. [PMID: 34373945 DOI: 10.1007/s00414-021-02638-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2021] [Accepted: 06/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
A quite intriguing subject being intensively researched in the forensic toxicology field is the source of postmortem determined blood ethanol concentration: antemortem ingestion or postmortem microbial production. Our previous research on microbial ethanol production has reported a quantitative relationship between the ethanol and the higher alcohols and 1-butanol produced by Escherichia coli, Clostridium perfrigens, and Clostridium sporogenes. In this contribution, we continue our research reporting on the following: (i) the patterns of ethanol, higher alcohols, and 1-butanol production by the microbes Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, and Enterococcus faecalis (all being aerobic/facultative anaerobic species, common corpse's colonizers, and ethanol producers), under controlled laboratory conditions, (ii) the mathematical modeling, with simple mathematical equations, of the correlation between ethanol concentration and the other studied alcohols' concentrations, by performing multiple linear regression analysis of the results, and (iii) the applicability of the constructed models in microbial cultures developed under different temperature than that used to build the models, in denatured blood cultures and in real postmortem cases. The aforementioned alcohols were proved to be all indicators of ethanol production, both in qualitative and quantitative terms. 1-Propanol was the most significant alcohol in modeling microbial ethanol production, followed by methyl-butanol. The K. pneumoniae's models achieved the best scoring in applicability (E < 40%) compared to the S. aureus and E. faecalis models, both at laboratory microbial cultures at 37 °C and real postmortem cases. Overall, a noteworthy accuracy in estimating the microbial ethanol in cultures and autopsy blood is achieved by the employed simple linear models.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Vassiliki A Boumba
- Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Ioannina, Greece. .,Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, 45110, Ioannina, Greece.
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