Chemical investigation of biological trace evidence; toxicological screening of waste residues obtained from DNA extraction processes

In a forensic scenario, if biological stains are found in very small quantities, these are usually collected for DNA analyses, considered essential for the forensic investigation and thus excluding possible investigations by other forensic disciplines as forensic toxicology. We developed an experime...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of legal medicine 2024-05, Vol.138 (3), p.721-730
Main Authors: Di Candia, Domenico, Giordano, Gaia, Boracchi, Michele, Bailo, Paolo, Primignani, Paola, Piccinini, Andrea, Zoja, Riccardo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid - methods
Cocaine
Criminal investigations
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
Extraction procedures
Feasibility studies
Forensic chemistry
Forensic Medicine
Forensic toxicology
Forensic Toxicology - methods
High performance liquid chromatography
Humans
Legal medicine
Mass spectrometry
Mass Spectrometry - methods
Medical Law
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Metabolites
Original
Original Article
Quadrupoles
Residues
Solid Phase Extraction - methods
Solid phases
Toxicology
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Summary:In a forensic scenario, if biological stains are found in very small quantities, these are usually collected for DNA analyses, considered essential for the forensic investigation and thus excluding possible investigations by other forensic disciplines as forensic toxicology. We developed an experimental study to evaluate the feasibility of analyzing DNA extraction residues obtained from DNA extraction procedures to perform toxicological analysis, with the aim to extract both genetic and toxicological information without affecting or compromising the genetic sample and/or DNA extraction. DNA extraction from four blood samples (fortified with 5 molecules of interest with a final concentrations of 1 µg/mL, 100 ng/mL, 10 ng/mL and 5 ng/mL, respectively) were analyzed with QIAGEN QIAmp® DNA Mini kit. Three waste residues collected from the DNA extraction were analyzed for the toxicological investigation via Solid-Phase Extraction and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography—Tandem Mass Spectrometry analyses (Thermo Scientific™ TSQ Fortis™ II Triple-Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer). The analytical investigation revealed that our analytes of interest were detected in two different residues of the DNA extraction procedure, allowing both genetic and toxicological analyses without affecting the DNA identification. At last, the experimental protocol was applied to a hypothetical case, with encouraging results and allowing the identification of our molecules of interest.
ISSN:0937-9827
1437-1596
DOI:10.1007/s00414-023-03119-6