Fatal intoxication of 1-Thiophen-2-yl-2-MethylAminoPropane(-2-MPA): Forensic case report

Abstract

Aim

To identify whether 2-MPA was the cause of the death or not.

Case

A 27-year-old man who had drunk several large pints and had used some novel psychoactive substances (NPS) was found unconsciousness early in the morning in his room with some plastic packets, where two of them were opened and one sealed contained white tablets (jumping beans). The tablets were found adjacent to the dead body. He was brought to a Kaciyru hospital (Kigali, Rwanda); at the hospital, he was found to be unresponsive with no mental state and a lack of coordination. The autopsy was conducted as per the request from the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) and the findings revealed that there were no marks; the body did not show any decomposition and both the internal and external examinations showed no evidence of injury. The brain appeared congested and edematous; kidneys, lungs, and liver appeared congested, and the heart appeared normal. 10 mL of blood sample was collected directly from the heart. The postmortem report indicated sudden cardiac death through cardiac dysrhythmia, but there was no medical history of previous heart disease.

Method

The cardiac blood sample and the packets of jumping beans were collected and analysis was carried out for drug intoxication. Physical examination of the drug was performed using the microscopic technique; The Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometer was used as confirmatory analysis. The proton nuclear magnetic resonance 1H-NMR was used to record the proton NMR of the target compound. NPS from post-mortem cardiac blood samples was analyzed by SPE-GC-MS after appropriate sample pretreatment procedures.

Results

The finding suggested the presence of methiopropamine (2-MPA) in the suspected seized drug. Moreover, the structural isomer of 2-MPA was detected and the concentration of 2-MPA in the decedent's blood was 752 ± 26 ng/mL.

Conclusion

The preliminary presumptive blood test revealed that the suspected drug gave a positive result with GC-MS analysis. Besides, the FTIR and NMR confirmed that the suspected drug was 2-MPA. The quantitative determination of MPA was also performed using GC-MS and the result showed that a high concentration of MPA was reported as acute toxicity was obtained in the cardiac blood. Thus, the cause of death was certified as acute 2-MPA intoxication.