Sizhe Huang,Rongshuai Wang,Bingbing Guo,Hongbin Ruan,Jinghong Ma,Liang Ren,Liang Liu
Methyl nitrite is suggested to cause methemoglobinemia by generating methemoglobin, which may be lethal when the methemoglobin concentration exceeds 70%. However, intoxication with methyl nitrite is seldom reported compared with that with other nitrites. Here, we present an industrial accident involving methyl nitrite inhalation during its synthesis process that resulted in three fatalities and one survivor. The autopsy revealed conspicuous blue-gray discoloration in various parts of the body, including the skin, airway mucosa, vessels, brain, heart, and among other areas. The toxicological tests on the deceased showed methemoglobin concentrations in the blood over the lethal level and increased nitrite ion levels in the blood, gastric contents, liver, and lung tissue compared with those in control samples. The cause of death was determined to be methemoglobinemia-induced hypoxia due to methyl nitrite inhalation. This report provides evidence that in methyl nitrite intoxication, exposure duration has a significant influence on the postmortem changes and likelihood of a fatal outcome may be related to the age of the victim. More attention is required regarding the industrial hazards of this substance.
Shi Qianwen,Wang Shuhui,Wang Gege,Wang Tao,Du Kaili,Gao Cairong,Guo Xiangjie,Fu Shanlin,Yun Keming
Immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated immediate hypersensitivity reactions are the most concerning adverse events after penicillin antibiotics (PENs) administration because of their rapid progression and potential for fatal outcome. However, the diagnosis of allergic death is a forensic challenge because it mainly depends on nonspecific characteristic morphological changes, as well as exclusion and circumstantial evidence. In this study, an untargeted metabolomics approach based on liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) was used to screen potential forensic biomarkers of fatal anaphylactic shock induced by four PENs (benzylpenicillin (BP), amoxicillin (AMX), oxacillin (OXA), and mezlocillin (MEZ)), and analyzed the metabolites, metabolic pathway and the mechanism which were closely related to the allergic reactions. The metabolomics results discovered that a total of 24 different metabolites in all four anaphylactic death (AD) groups, seven of which were common metabolites. A biomarker model consisting of six common metabolites (linoleic acid, prostaglandin D2, lysophosphatidylcholine (18:0), N-acetylhistamine, citric acid and indolelactic acid) AUC value of Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.978. Metabolism pathway analysis revealed that the pathogenesis of PENs-induced AD is closely related to linoleic acid metabolism. Our results revealed that the metabolomic profiling has potential in PENs-induced AD post-mortem diagnosis and metabolic mechanism investigations.