NCJ Number
136877
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 37 Issue: 3 Dated: (May 1992) Pages: 867-872
Date Published
1992
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Larvae of Parasarcophaga ruficornis (Fabricius) (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) were reared on tissues from rabbits administered different doses of methamphetamine to study the effects of this drug on species development.
Abstract
Three domestic rabbits were given doses of 37.5, 71.4, and 142.9 mg of methamphetamine in normal saline by ear vein infusion to produce different concentrations of methamphetamine in tissues. A fourth rabbit was used as a control and received only normal saline by ear infusion. The rabbit receiving the 142.9-mg dose expired within 2 minutes following drug administration. All other rabbits were sacrificed in a carbon dioxide chamber 10 minutes after drug administration. Immediately after death, a blood sample was taken from each rabbit and frozen for later analysis of drug content. It was found that from hours 30 to 60, larvae feeding on tissues from rabbits receiving 71.4 and 142.9 mg of methamphetamine developed more rapidly than larvae from the control colony and those feeding on tissues from the rabbit receiving 37.5 mg of methamphetamine. The time required for pupariation was significantly greater for colonies fed on methamphetamine-dosed rabbits than for the control. These differences were sufficient to alter postmortem interval estimates based on larval development by up to 18 hours and estimates based on puparial development by up to 48 hours. The presence of methamphetamine or amphetamine could not be detected in Diptera larvae in this experiment using radioimmunoassay techniques, since there was a nonspecific reaction resulting in a false positive. 12 references, 1 table, and 1 figure (Author abstract modified)