Universität zu Köln

Hose, Jeremai ORCID: 0000-0003-4085-2219, Andresen‐Streichert, Hilke ORCID: 0000-0002-8779-8902, Thevis, Mario, Rothschild, Markus A. and Juebner, Martin (2025). Phosphatidylethanol in post‐mortem blood: A comparative study of blood matrices and its stability at routine storage conditions. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 70 (5). pp. 1963-1972. Wiley. ISSN 0022-1198

PDF Journal of Forensic Sciences - 2025 - Hose - Phosphatidylethanol in post‐mortem blood A comparative study of blood.pdf Bereitstellung unter der CC-Lizenz: Creative Commons Attribution. Download (1MB)

Abstract

Determination of alcohol markers in post‐mortem cases can be useful to classify drinking habits and potential alcohol habituation prior to death. Phosphatidylethanol (PEth) is a direct alcohol marker and is already commonly used in a variety of contexts. However, its use in the field of post‐mortem toxicology has been scarcely investigated so far. To evaluate its validity, PEth was determined in routinely collected post‐mortem heart blood and femoral vein blood. The stability of PEth under routine storage conditions (−20°C) for a period of 60 days was examined. Post‐mortem blood was collected during medicolegal autopsies and aliquoted. Parts of the samples were used to create dried blood spots (DBS) directly after collection. Further DBS were created using aliquots stored at −20°C on days 1, 2, 7, 14, 30, and 60. LC–MS/MS was used for quantitative PEth analysis, and initial blood alcohol was determined using GC‐FID. Blood was collected from 50 different post‐mortem cases. The heart blood/femoral blood ratio of PEth concentrations varied from 0.32 to 2.36 (mean = approx. 1.00), indicating a good comparability in total but a strong interindividual variation. In all PEth‐positive samples, the PEth concentrations increased by approximately 20% after 24 hours and 70% after 60 days. Post‐sampling formation of PEth was also found in blood samples without detectable amounts of ethanol. Neither storage at −80°C nor the addition of sodium metavanadate led to satisfactory stability of PEth. Based on our findings, the (sole) use of PEth for post‐mortem toxicology caseworks is not recommended.

Item Type:	Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Hose, Jeremai UNSPECIFIED https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4085-2219 UNSPECIFIED Andresen‐Streichert, Hilke UNSPECIFIED https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8779-8902 UNSPECIFIED Thevis, Mario UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Rothschild, Markus A. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Juebner, Martin UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-805916
Identification Number:	10.1111/1556-4029.70106
Journal or Publication Title:	Journal of Forensic Sciences
Volume:	70
Number:	5
Page Range:	pp. 1963-1972
Number of Pages:	10
Date:	26 September 2025
Publisher:	Wiley
ISSN:	0022-1198
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Medicine
Divisions:	Faculty of Medicine > Rechtsmedizin > Institut für Rechtsmedizin
Subjects:	Law Medical sciences Medicine
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language alcohol biomarker ; dried blood spots ; femoral vein blood ; forensic toxicology ; heart blood ; phospholipase D English
['eprint_fieldname_oa_funders' not defined]:	Publikationsfonds UzK
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/80591