Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0751295 (memory loss)
 3,619 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

This report documents a case of drug-facilitated sexual assault (DFSA) under the influence of solvents. The victim was a 13-year-old female. Upon contact with law enforcement, she was still confused and could hardly explain the facts. She told authorities that she had been kidnapped 4 h previously when two individuals with covered faces put a cloth soaked in a solvent over her mouth. She spent a few hours in a room, during which she lost consciousness. The girl awakened semi-nude in the street with memory loss. No alcohol was present in the subject's body; no odor of alcohol was detected on the subject's breath. No lesions were observed during a gynecological exam. A blood sample was taken with the intent to investigate the use of chloroform or similar anesthetics. Toxicological analysis of the victim's blood revealed the presence of 7.6 mg/L of benzene, 24.8 mg/L of toluene, and 0.6 mg/L of xylene (mixture of isomers). As for other analytical findings, diazepam (0.02 mg/L) was also found. The aromatic solvents involved in this case were detected using gas chromatography with flame-ionization detection (GC-FID) and confirmed using GC-mass spectrometry (MS) in full scan mode after liquid-liquid extraction of the whole blood sample. Quantitation of the aromatic solvents was carried out using GC-FID. Diazepam was detected using GC with nitrogen-phosphorus detection (NPD) and confirmed using GC-MS with full scan mode after solid-phase extraction of the whole blood sample using Bond-Elut Certify columns. Quantitation of diazepam was carried out using GC-NPD. No other drugs, including ethanol, were detected. Recoveries for benzene, toluene, and xylene (mixture of isomers) in whole blood at 5 mg/L were 89.2%, 90.8%, and 93.4%, respectively. Intraday precisions were 5.3%, 5.0%, and 4.9%, respectively, and interday precisions were 12.1%, 11.6%, and 11.5%, respectively. The limits of detection (LOD) and quantitation (LOQ) were 30 and 100 microg/L, respectively. The linearity of the blood calibration curves was excellent with r(2) values of > 0.999 (range 0.1-10 mg/L). Recovery for diazepam in whole blood at 0.5 mg/L was 88.2% with intraday and interday precisions of 2.0% and 10.8%, respectively. The LOD and LOQ were 6 and 20 microg/L, respectively. The linearity of the blood calibration curve was excellent with r(2) values of > 0.999 (range 0.1-2 mg/L). We want to alert other toxicologists about new or unexpected products that should be taken into account when the surreptitious use of substances in DFSA is suspected.
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PMID:An unusual case of drug-facilitated sexual assault using aromatic solvents. 1695 37

The Republic of Ireland, like all other countries, has strict laws governing the crimes of rape and sexual assault. Victims of such assaults are treated in sexual assault treatment units where evidential material is gathered and forwarded to the forensic science laboratory (FSL). This paper represents the first published study from the Republic of Ireland of the time, day and month most frequently encountered in sexual assault cases presented to the FSL. In addition, the study examines the location and nature of the assault, together with such factors as the age of the victim, relationship to the suspect and degree to which the victim has a clear recollection of the events. The study covers information from 890 cases submitted to the FSL in the time period January 2004 to December 2005. The most common age category of victim was 16-30, the most likely time of occurrence was Saturday night/Sunday morning during the summer months of June, July or August. The assailant will most likely be known to the victim even if only recently met. Loss of memory mainly associated with the consumption of alcohol was a significant factor in many of the cases. The figures were compared to international studies with no significant differences between our findings and other studies. We also compared our results to a similar study in 1995-1996 and found little difference except for the number of the victims who were non-Irish nationals: 3% in the 1995-1996 study but by 2004-2005 that figure had risen to 11%.
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PMID:Sexual assault statistics from the Republic of Ireland for 2004-2005. 1853 74

The number of drug-facilitated sexual assault incidents has lately been increased all over the world leading law enforcement agencies and hospital doctors to constant alert. The drugs involved may be benzodiazepines, hypnotics, other sedatives, anesthetics, drugs of abuse or ethanol. The detection of these agents in biologic fluids is difficult, since most of them are shortly acting, and provoke victim's amnesia which in turn leads the victim to report the allegation late. An unusual case-study of a 35-year-old, married woman who was admitted to the hospital with dizziness and loss of memory for a period of 10 days is here reported. The toxicological analysis of the victim's blood and urine for unknown sedative drugs, achieved by GC-MS, revealed the presence of zolpidem (Stilnox), a nonbenzodiazepine hypnotic. Concentration of zolpidem in blood, 11 hours after the last supposedly intake, was 47 microg/L. After family counseling at the hospital, the victim's husband confessed that he was replacing the contents of Losec capsules of his wife, with Stilnox tablets. This unjust act was committed by the husband in order for him to have sex with his wife, since she was not willing to participate in a sexual intercourse due to her religious restraints for a fasting period of 40 days. The aim of this article is 2-fold. First, to emphasize the fact that a sexual assault can take place not only between 2 strangers, but also within a happily married couple. Second, to remind doctors that any case of sexual assault must be examined toxicologically, for a better and thorough investigation.
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PMID:Drug-facilitated sexual assault provoked by the victim's religious beliefs: a case report. 1990 11

The presence of alcohol (ethanol) is a common toxicological finding in alleged cases of drug-facilitated sexual assault (DFSA). Alcohol was identified as the most frequently encountered drug in DFSAs more than a decade ago, and epidemiological studies to date confirm this initial finding. There is no single substance that is uniquely associated with DFSA. Alcohol has been used by humans for thousands of years and its effect on sexual behavior is well established. Despite the fact that alcohol has been the subject of scientific investigation for several hundred years, DFSA casework involving alcohol remains complex and poses numerous challenges. The prevalence of alcohol in DFSAs is reviewed within the context of toxicological findings and blood alcohol concentration (BAC). Pharmacological aspects are briefly presented, including pharmacokinetics and retrograde extrapolation. The effects of alcohol are discussed within the context of the pharmacodynamics of alcohol and the mechanistic issues associated with alcohol's disruption of memory. The amnesic effects of alcohol are reviewed, with particular focus on the two distinct types of alcohol-induced blackout: fragmentary and en bloc. The prevalence of and the BACs associated with this type of alcohol-mediated memory loss are described. Finally, biological specimens (blood, serum, and urine) are reviewed from a toxicological standpoint, and the associated methodology for quantitative alcohol determination is presented.
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PMID:The Use of Alcohol to Facilitate Sexual Assault. 2624 53

Drugs used to facilitate sexual assaults are typically those that rapidly render the potential victim unconscious or sedated, and produce memory loss or amnesia. Many of these drugs are difficult to detect due to a delay in biological specimen collection. Detection is further hampered as the drugs are often administered in single low doses and are rapidly and extensively metabolized, resulting in low concentrations in biological specimens. Miscellaneous prescription drugs such as the barbiturates, antipsychotics, opioids, tricyclic antidepressants, ketamine, and chloral hydrate have the potential to produce varying degrees of sedation; however, they are not frequently detected in drug-facilitated sexual assault cases. A review of the literature shows that these drugs are often knowingly taken by the victim before or subsequent to the assault, and therefore may contribute to the sedation or unconsciousness experienced by the victim when ethanol or other central nervous system drugs are co-administered. Most barbiturates, opioids, and tricyclic antidepressants are routinely screened for in hospitals and forensic toxicology laboratories, and may be detectable in a urine specimen for several days. Antipsychotics, particularly the atypical class, ketamine, and chloral hydrate, generally require more targeted analyses. This review provides an overview of the pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, and common analytical methods for the barbiturates, antipsychotics, opioids, tricyclic antidepressants, ketamine, and chloral hydrate.
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PMID:The Use of Miscellaneous Prescription Medications to Facilitate Sexual Assault. 2624 58

We reported a case of sexual assault in a 60-year-old male with no history of mental illness. The lack of memory about the time of the assault and the patient's uncharacteristic behaviour suggested sexual deviant behaviour secondary to a brain lesion. Further investigations revealed a lentiform stroke. A possibility of abnormal sexual behaviour due to an epileptic seizure and/or a destructive brain lesion is suggested. We summarized the history of our patient in this paper and provided a review of the medico-legal aspects of hypersexuality and sexual deviant behaviors due to brain disorders.
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PMID:The medical-legal aspect of sexual deviant behaviors due to brain lesions: A case report and narrative review of the literature. 2985 2