Lemos N.P., Anderson, R.A.

Department of Forensic Medicine & Science, The University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK

The use of bile as an analytical specimen in forensic laboratories is well established but, as yet, little work has been done on the extraction of bile samples using current solid-phase techniques. This study was conducted to develop a gas chromatographic method based on solid-phase extraction (SPE) for the simultaneous analysis of dextropropoxyphene and its major metabolite, norpropoxyphene, in bile. Dextropropoxyphene is a regularly prescribed analgesic drug that is frequently found in cases of medico-legal interest in the UK.

Bile samples are diluted with phosphate buffer (pH 6.0) and triphenylamine is added as the internal standard. Bile is then extracted with 200 mg Clean Screen® Extraction Columns. The resulting extract is then analysed by GC-FID using a CHROMPAK CP-SIL 5 CB capillary column. The method is rapid, specific and reproducible and makes dextropropoxyphene analysis in bile readily available as a valuable analytical tool.