NCJ Number
142809
Journal
Canadian Society of Forensic Science Journal Volume: 25 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1992) Pages: 191-199
Date Published
1992
Length
9 pages
Annotation
Warfarin, a popular rodenticide and also an oral anticoagulant used to treat thromboembolic disorders in humans, was extracted from whole blood using an XAD-2 resin, eluted off the resin with dichloromethane, and positively identified at concentrations well below the therapeutic range.
Abstract
Detection and quantitation were carried out using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a diode array detector. The method resulted in a clean extract with no interference from blood components or other drugs. The lowest amount that could be detected by the HPLC system was 1.3 ng. The lowest warfarin concentration measured had an interassay coefficient of variation (CV) of less than 15 percent, and the mean of the detected warfarin was accurate to within 15 percent of the added warfarin concentration. The quantitation of blood warfarin samples had an interassay CV of less than 3 percent, and the mean of detected concentrations was accurate to within 1 percent of the added warfarin concentration. The HPLC method was successful in extracting and separating warfarin from components of whole blood. Warfarin could be positively identified and accurately and precisely quantitated at concentrations well below the therapeutic range. Accurate with a variety of spiked blood samples, the HPLC method is considered to be useful in the forensic analysis of whole blood samples for warfarin. 15 references, 1 table, and 4 figures