Acute 5-(2-Aminopropyl)Benzofuran (5-APB) Intoxication and Fatality: A Case Report with Postmortem Concentrations

A 20-year-old man, a college student, became unresponsive in front of his girlfriend. He was known to consume alcohol and take an unknown drug at some point while in attendance at a local music festival earlier in the day/evening. Upon arrival of emergency personnel, he was noted to be asystolic and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of analytical toxicology 2015-03, Vol.39 (2), p.156-159
Main Authors: McIntyre, Iain M., Gary, Ray D., Trochta, Amber, Stolberg, Susan, Stabley, Robert
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acute Disease
Adult
Benzofurans - poisoning
Fatal Outcome
Forensic Toxicology
Humans
Male
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Summary:A 20-year-old man, a college student, became unresponsive in front of his girlfriend. He was known to consume alcohol and take an unknown drug at some point while in attendance at a local music festival earlier in the day/evening. Upon arrival of emergency personnel, he was noted to be asystolic and apneic. Despite aggressive medical intervention by emergency personnel and at a local hospital emergency room, he was pronounced deceased within 1.25 h of initial medical attention. Postmortem blood initially screened positive for methamphetamine by ELISA. An alkaline drug screen detected 5-(2-aminopropyl)benzofuran (5-APB) which was subsequently confirmed and quantified by a specific GC-MS SIM analysis following solid-phase extraction. Concentrations were determined in the peripheral blood (2.5 mg/L), central blood (2.9 mg/L), liver (16 mg/kg), vitreous (1.3 mg/L), urine (23 mg/L) and gastric contents (6 mg). No other common amphetamine-like compound was detected, although 5-(2-aminopropyl)-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran (5-APDB) was presumptively identified in both peripheral blood and urine. Alcohol, the only other drug identified, was confirmed at a concentration of 0.02% (w/v).
ISSN:0146-4760
1945-2403
DOI:10.1093/jat/bku131