Mukaida M.^*, Kimura H.^**

^* Department of Forensic Medicine, National Defense Medical College, Namiki 3-2, Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan
^* Department of Forensic Medicine, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Hongo 2-1-1, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Hair is a suitable sample for analysis to prove drug abuse. To detect methamphetamine (MA), one of typical stimulants, in a hair without extracting it, we employed laser microscopy and immunohistochemical staining.
Materials and Method. Hair samples from three stimulant abusers and non-abusers were used. They were embedded in paraffin and cut to thin sections. The specimens were observed with a laser microscope (Carl Zeiss Model 410) after incubation with anti-MA labeled with colloidal gold. The intensity of colloidal gold reflection which reacted with the MA contained in the hair was measured with laser microscopy.
Results and Discussion. In the abuser's hair root sections, the hair cortex was stained positively and the hair papilla in the bulb was stained more positively than the cortex. At the hair trunk nearer to the skin surface, the hair cortex was also positively stained. The medulla of the abuser's hair was stained more positively than the cortex near the skin. Normal hair was not stained at all. It is not yet clear whether there is a direct correlation between distributions of melanin and stimulants in the hair. Our method, i. e. to stain with colloidal gold and to observe hair samples with a laser microscope at reflection mode, involves no bleaching and can detect drugs quantitatively by using only a segmental hair without extraction.