• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.59 no.5
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• pp.230-234
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• 2015

This paper includes a review of 555 drug-facilitated sexual assault (DFSA) cases analyzed at the National Forensic Service (NFS), South Korea, between 2006 and 2012. The results of toxicological analyses of blood and urine samples were also reported, and furthermore the results were interpreted with respect to the number of drugs detected. The number of DFSA cases was highest during warmer summer months and the mean age of the victims was 25 years, with 48% being between 20 and 29 years. Accommodations or entertainment places were the most frequent place of the sexual assault (57%); and the assailant was a stranger in 72% of the DFSA cases. Drugs were identified in the blood or urine samples in 145 cases (26%) and sedative-hypnotics, such as benzodiazepines and zolpidem, were the most commonly detected, along with sedative antihistamines such as doxylamine and diphenhydramine. The frequent presence of sedative drugs in biological samples tends to implicate their use in chemical submission. However, interpreting the analytical results in terms of voluntary vs. surreptitious administration of drugs requires further detailed investigation and knowledge of the victim's health status and medication used at the time of event.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.113-121
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• 2010

Purpose: Drug-induced non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema has been reported on in a drug case series. For most of the agents that cause pulmonary edema, the pathogenic mechanisms that are responsible for the pulmonary edema remain unknown. We report here on the cases of suspected drug-induced pulmonary edema and we analyze the clinical characteristics. Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 1,345 patients who had drug adverse effects and drug poisoning from January 2005 to July 2010, and 480 of these patients were admitted to the EM Department. Among them, 17 patients developed abnormal chest radiological findings and they were analyzed for any clinical characteristics, the initial symptoms, securing the airway and the clinical results. Results: Seventeen patients out of 480 (3.54%) developed drug-induced abnormal chest radiographic pulmonary edema; they displayed initial symptoms that included mental change (41.2%), dyspnea (17.6%), vomiting (11.8%), etc, and some displayed no symptoms at all (11.8%). Only 3 patients out of the 11 who died or had severe pulmonary edema were able to obtain an advanced airway prior to their arrival to the EM Department. Clinical recovery was generally rapid and this was mostly completed within 6 hours. The mortality rate was 11.8% (2 of 17 patients), and the causative drugs were found to be propofol (35.3%, 6 of 17 patients), multiple drugs (41.2% or 7 out of 17) and one patient each with ephedrine, ethylene glycol, doxylamine and an unknown drug, respectively. Conclusion: Drug-induced pulmonary edema and deaths are not uncommon, and recovery is typically rapid with few long-term sequelae when drug administration is discontinued. Oxygen therapy and securing the airway must be performed during transportation for patients with pulmonary edema.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.117-125
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• 2011

This study was to investigate the effect of fermentation extracts on the concentration of serotonin and melatonin in the serum of the ICR mice. The ICR mice were divided into water control group, lactobacillus fermentation solution including (Lactobacillus paracasei and Bifidobacterium longum B6) control group, positive control group (milk and doxylamine succinate), negative control group (caffein) and the groups treated with the extracts of Berberis koreana bark (WE: water extracts, FE-L.P: fermentation extracts of Lactobacillus paracasei, FE-B.L: fermentation extracts of Bifidobacterium longum B6). After ten-day feeding treatment, the mean concentration of serotonin for water control, WE, FE-L.P and FEB. L group was 134.72, 183.01, 232.09 and $223.78 ng/m{\ell}$, respectively. The mean concentration for FE-L.P and FE-B.L group were approximately 66% larger than that for water control group. The mean concentration of melatonin for water control, WE, FE-L.P and FE-B.L group was 76.92, 106.66, 157.56 and $141.81pg/m{\ell}$, respectively. The mean concentration of melatonin for FE-L.P and FE-B.L group were also larger than that for water control group. Our results indicated that the fermentation extracts of Berberis koreana bark have relatively greater potential to induce secretion of serotonin and melatonin. Therefore, the fermentation extracts have antidepressant effect.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.137-146
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• 2008

Even though driving under the influence of drug (DUID) is a worldwide problem, we, Korea has no regulation system yet except for alcohol, and there are little cases reported related to DUID. In order to investigate the type of abused drugs for drivers in Korea, we tried to analyze controlled and non-controlled drugs in alcohol-positive blood samples. 275 whole bloods, which were positive for alcohol on the roadside test, were collected from the police for two months ($Nov.{\sim}Dec.$ 2006). The analytical strategy was constituted of three steps: First, alcohol in blood samples were confirmed and quantified by gas chromatography. Second, controlled drugs were screened by $Evidence_{investigator}\;^{TM}$ (Randox, U.K.) as preliminary test. It was based on immunoassay by biochip array analyzer. Nine groups of drug abuse were screened: amphetamines, methamphetamines, cannabis, cocaine, opiates, barbiturates, methadone, benzodiazepines I (oxazepam) & II (lorazepam). Finally, confirmation of these drugs was performed by GC-MS. Blood samples were extracted by solid-phase extraction by $RapidTrace^{TM}$ (Zymark, U.S.A.). After trimethylsilyl (TMS) derivatization, eluates were analyzed to GC-MS. Total 49 drugs were investigated in this study including controlled drugs, antidepressants, 1st generation antihistamines, dextromethorphan, nalbuphine, ketamine, etc. For rapid detection, we developed the automated identification system. It was made up a new software, "DrugMan", modified Chemstation data analysis menu and newly developed macro modules. A series of peak selection, identification and reporting of the results were performed automatically by this system. Concentrations of alcohol in 275 blood samples were ranged from 0.011 to 0.249% (average, 0.119%). Among 149 blood samples, just six samples (4.0%) were showed positive results to the immunoassay: one methamphetamine and five benzodiazepines group I. By GC-MS confirmation, only benzodiazepines were detected and methamphetamine was not detected from immunoassay positive blood sample. Besides these drugs, 5 chlorpheniramines, dextromethorphan, diazepam, doxylamine, ibuprofen, lidocaine and topiramate were also detected in whole bloods by GC-MS. Conclusively, the frequency of drug abuse for Korean drivers was relatively low. There was none case which illegal drug was detected. However these results were limited to alcohol positive blood samples, so it is necessary to analyze more samples including alcohol negative blood.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.142-146
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• 2010

Relatively large amounts of GABA can be produced by the fermentation of rice bran. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the effects of GABA on the secretion of melatonin and serotonin for the development of a sleep inductive compound. The secretion levels of melatonin and serotonin from mice were found to be $3.425{\pm}0.182\;pg/mL$ and $5.37{\pm}0.963\;ng/mL$, respectively, in response to feeding 120 mg/mL of GABA while they were $2.607{\pm}0.41\;pg/mL$ in the control. The secretion of both melatonin and serotonin was increased up to the 13.51% and 34.99%, respectively, when compared to the negative control. However, the feeding of milk alone did not have a great effect on the melatonin and serotonin secretions. Conversely, feeding of milk with GABA enhanced the secretion of serotonin. The amounts of both melatonin and serotonin secreted increased with respect to the increase in GABA concentrations during feeding. Interestingly, the induction level of melatonin was relatively higher than that of serotonin in response to feeding 120 mg/mL of GABA. This is the first study to report that GABA has an ability to induce sleep related hormones in mice; therefore, it has the potential for use as a natural sleep aid.