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Introduction/Objective. Heroin is metabolized to 6-monoacetylmorphine (6-MAM) and morphine. The objective of this study is to examine 6-MAM, morphine, and codeine relationships in order to distinguish deaths related to heroin consumption from deaths related to morphine and/or codeine consumption. Methods. The autopsy blood and urine samples from 45 opioid drug addicts were examined. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry was applied to evaluate morphine, 6-MAM, and codeine. Two groups were formed: 6-MAM-positive (n = 35) and 6-MAM-negative (n = 10). Results. Compared to the 6-MAM-negative group, blood morphine levels were higher in the 6-MAMpositive group (p = 0.022), while blood codeine levels were similar (p = 0.575). In the 6-MAM-negative group, the blood morphine/codeine ratio was 8.3, and it was 4.3 in the 6-MAM-positive group. There was no difference between the groups regarding urine morphine levels (p = 0.859). The urine morphine/ codeine ratio was 6.2 in the 6-MAM-negative group, whilst it was 32.2 in the 6-MAM-positive group. In the blood samples, morphine and codeine concentrations were significantly correlated (r = 0.607; p = 0.006). In urine samples, correlations between morphine and codeine (r = 0.766; p < 0.001), morphine and 6-MAM (r = 0.650; p < 0.001), as well as codeine and 6-MAM (r = 0.620; p < 0.001), were also significant. Conclusion. Analyses of 6-MAM and morphine/codeine ratio in blood and urine autopsy samples may be used as diagnostic tools to distinguish deaths related to the consumption of different opioid drugs.

There were 351 drug addicts examined post mortem from 2006 till 2015 at The Institute of Forensic Medicine in Belgrade. In most of the cases death was accidental, caused by the use of psychoactive substances totaling 219(62,4%), followed by suicidal deaths 35 (10,0%) and deaths from traumas caused in traffic accidents. The most common manner of suicide was death by hanging (48,6%), jump from a height (28,6%), suicide by firearm (17,8%). There were no recorded suicides by overdose. The age of post mortem drug addicts where the suicide was a cause of death, did not statistically differ from others, accidental deaths, caused by the use of psychoactive substances. However, drug addicts died from traumas in traffic accident were statistically significantly younger in comparison to previous two groups. The median blood morphine levels concentration value did not statistically differ significantly in all three examined groups. Quite often there was alcohol presence in blood of drug addicts who died in traffic accidents.

Number of poisons which surround the modern man is constantly on the rise and hence therefore the frequency of intoxication. The aim of the study was to determine the type of poison which causes the suicidal poisoning, sex, age, occupation, place of poisoning, events and seasonal distribution of poisoned. This paper analyzes the suicidal poisoning, autopsied at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Belgrade in two periods (1965-1969) and (2000-2004) years . To test for statistical significance was used Pearson's X2 test. Comparative analysis of the obtained results shows that a significantly more frequent suicidal poisoning in the first analyzed period (1965-1969), P

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a ubiquitous environmental pollutant which is often associated with various health issues. In this study 103 healthy female volunteers in reproductive age from Serbian north province Vojvodina were enrolled and examined for the BPA exposure in the urine samples after 12 h of fasting. BPA was found in 35.92 % (37/103) of subjects. Statistically significant increment in waist circumference (p = 0.045) and waist-to-height ratio (p = 0.037) was observed among the BPA positive women in comparison with the women who had the same energetic balance and had not been exposed to BPA. Linear correlation was obtained between the BPA concentration in urine samples and body mass index (r2 = 0.35,p = 0.003) waist circumference (r2 = 0.21,p = 0.02) and waist-to-height ratio (r2 = 0.25,p = 0.01) among the obese. High energetic intake and reduced physical activity additionally pronounced BPA positive association with obesity. No statistically significant difference was observed in triglycerides, HDL and LDL cholesterol levels between the BPA exposed and BPA non-exposed female volunteers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]