A fatal poisoning involving 25C-NBOMe

Abstract

This paper reports on a fatal overdose case involving the potent hallucinogenic drug 25C-NBOMe (2-(4-chloro-2,5-dimethoxyphenyl)-N-[(2-methoxyphenyl)methyl]ethanamine). In the present case, a young male was hospitalized after the recreational use of this potent drug. He died at the hospital at approximately 12h after ingestion, with preceding signs of serotonin toxicity. Medico-legal autopsy was performed on the deceased, during which time peripheral whole blood, urine, vitreous humor, liver and gastric content samples were submitted for toxicological examination. Further, whole blood collected at the hospital at 2–4h following ingestion of the drug was analyzed. 25C-NBOMe and a demethylated and glucuronidated metabolite of 25C-NBOMe were identified in the urine and blood samples using ultra-performance liquid chromatography with high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC–HRTOF–MS). Subsequently, 25C-NBOMe was quantified in the peripheral whole blood (0.60μg/kg), urine (2.93μg/kg), vitreous humor (0.33μg/kg), liver (0.82μg/kg) and gastric content (0.32μg total) samples collected during autopsy and in the ante-mortem whole blood (0.81μg/kg) by ultra-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC–MS/MS). The autopsy findings were consistent with acute poisoning.Based on the toxicological findings, the cause of death was determined to be a fatal overdose of 25C-NBOMe in combination with amphetamine intake. To our knowledge, the present paper reports the first quantification of 25C-NBOMe in biological specimens from a fatal intoxication case.