Poster - Northwest Association of Forensic Scientists
          -----------------------------------------------------

TITLE:    "ENDOGENOUS GAMMA HYDROXYBUTYRATE (GHB) LEVELS IN POSTMORTEM SPECIMENS" 

AUTHORS:  Daniel T. Anderson and Tiffany Kuwahara, Los Angeles County Department 
          of Coroner, Los Angeles, CA 

ABSTRACT: Gamma Hydroxybutyrate (GHB) is a central nervous system depressant 
          which was first synthesized in the 1960's. It was marketed in health 
          food stores as an anabolic steroid alternative in the 1980's and is 
          now emerging in the "Rave" nightclub scene, where it is used with 
          criminal intent (date rape or knock out drops). During the past year, 
          the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner has been asked numerous 
          times to evaluate cases for the presence of GHB. Preliminary studies 
          have shown measurable amounts of GHB in random postmortem specimens 
          where no GHB use was suspected. This study measures endogenous GHB 
          levels in heart blood, femoral blood and urine in approximately one 
          hundred randomly selected postmortem cases. 

          The analysis of GHB in postmortem specimens (0.5 mL sample size) 
          consisted of an acid hydrolysis of GHB to Gamma Butyrolactone (GBL), 
          a liquid extraction procedure with chloroform, and quantitation by 
          GC/MS. Linearity was achieved from 5.0 to 50 mg/L, with the limit of 
          quantitation being 1.0 mg/L. Analysis of free or intact GBL from 
          postmortem specimens (0.5 mL sample size) consisted of a liquid 
          extraction procedure with chloroform, and quantitation by GC/MS. 
          Linearity was achieved from 2.0 to 20 mg/L, with the limit of
          quantitation being 0.5 mg/L. 

          Endogenous GHB levels in 96 postmortem cases were as follows: Heart 
          blood ranged from 1.6 to 36 mg/L with an average of 12 mg/L, Femoral 
          blood ranged from 1.7 to 48 mg/L with an average of 11 mg/L, and 
          Urine ranged from 0 to 14 mg/L with an average of 4.6 mg/L. Analysis 
          of 50 antemortem blood specimens disclosed no measurable amount of GHB.