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Alpha-methyltryptamine and 5-(2-methylaminopropyl)-benzofuran (5-MAPB) fatal co-intoxication: case report and review of literature

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Abstract

The scientific literature contains little reliable data regarding new psychoactive substances and designer drugs, making it difficult to assess toxic blood levels and potentially lethal threshold. Here, we report a fatal co-intoxication involving two uncommon drugs ‒ alpha-methyltryptamine (AMT) and 5-(2-methylaminopropyl)-benzofuran (5-MAPB) ‒ combined with exposure to benzodiazepines, ephedrine, and norephedrine. AMT and 5-MAPB were quantified using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC/MS-MS), revealing concentrations of AMT 4690 ng/mL and 5-MAPB 101 ng/mL in postmortem peripheral blood. We additionally reviewed the literature to help interpret the likely roles of these molecules in the occurrence of death.

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Funding

The authors did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine Lyon-Est, University of Lyon, UCBL1, Lyon, France

    Marie Epain & Laurent Fanton

  2. Service of Forensic Medicine, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Edouard Herriot Hospital, 5 Place d’Arsonval, Lyon Cedex 03, 69437, France

    Marie Epain, Nathalie Cartiser & Laurent Fanton

  3. LAT LUMTOX Laboratory, Lyon, France

    Fabien Bevalot, Charline Bottinelli & Camille Chatenay

Authors
  1. Marie Epain
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  2. Nathalie Cartiser
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  3. Fabien Bevalot
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  4. Charline Bottinelli
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Contributions

Epain Marie: writing-original draft, investigation; Cartiser Nathalie: conceptualization, methodology, validation, visualization, writing-original draft; Bevalot Fabien: supervision, writing-review and editing; Bottineli Charline: methodology, validation; Fanton Laurent: resources, supervision, writting-review and editing.

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Correspondence to Marie Epain.

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This study was performed in accordance with French Law concerning ethical standards. The authors did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work. The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

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Epain, M., Cartiser, N., Bevalot, F. et al. Alpha-methyltryptamine and 5-(2-methylaminopropyl)-benzofuran (5-MAPB) fatal co-intoxication: case report and review of literature. Int J Legal Med (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-024-03236-w

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