Four fatalities involving 5-IT.
The new designer drug 5-(2-aminopropyl)indole (5-IT) is an indole derivative with stimulant properties. Its synthesis was first described by Albert Hofmann and Franz Troxler in 1962. We report four deaths associated with 5-IT and a validated high-performance liquid chromatography method for quantitation of the drug. In all four deaths, an autopsy was performed, and femoral venous blood, heart blood, urine and vitreous humor were submitted for toxicological analysis. The blood specimens were subjected to comprehensive testing that included alcohol analysis by headspace gas chromatography (GC-FID), acidicneutral, basic drug and opiates screening by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS), and acidicneutral, basic and acidic drugs screening by HPLC. In Case 1, a 25-year-old male, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA <0.08 mgL) and 5-IT (preserved femoral blood 1.2 mgL unpreserved femoral blood 0.8 mgL cardiac blood 1.2 mgL vitreous 0.8 mgL and urine >10 mgL) were detected, and death was attributed to the toxic effects of 5-IT. In Case 2, a 25-year-old female, 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylcathinone (methylone, not quantitated), 6-(2-aminopropyl)benzofuran (6-APB femoral blood <0.08 mgL) and 5-IT (preserved femoral blood 1.0 mgL unpreserved femoral blood 0.9 mgL cardiac blood 2.6 mgL vitreous 1.4 mgL and urine >10 mgL) were detected, and death was attributed to the toxic cocktail effects of the drugs. In Case 3, a 22-year-old male with a history of epilepsy, 5-IT (0.5 mgL femoral blood) and 6-APB (0.2 mgL femoral blood) were detected, and death was attributed to the toxic effects of the drugs, with the role of epilepsy being indeterminate. In Case 4, a 25-year-old female, 5-IT (0.4 mgL femoral blood), amphetamine (0.4 mgL femoral blood), MDMA (1.5 mgL femoral blood), 4-methyl-N-ethylcathione, 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine HCl (MDA), benzylpiperazine and 6-APB were detected, and death was attributed to the cocktail effect of the drugs.