Enrico Gerace, Alberto Salomone, Clemente Luciano, Daniele Di Corcia, Marco Vincenti
Abstract
The drug commonly known as U-47700 is a strong μ-opioid agonist with an approximate potency 7.5 times higher than morphine. It has been available in Europe since 2014, where it is usually sold through the internet or black market as an abuse morphine-like substance. In the case reported here, a Caucasian man was found dead in his apartment. Next to the body, the police seized one transparent plastic bag containing a white powder and two amber glass bottles with nasal spray containing few milliliters of a transparent liquid. During the autopsy, no evidence of natural disease or trauma was found to account for the death. Blood, urine and pubic hair were collected and submitted for toxicological analysis. The content of the seized materials was also submitted to a general screening analysis in order to determine its composition. U-47700 was detected in blood, urine and hair samples using an UHPLC/MS-MS method purposely developed. The blood and urine concentrations were 380 and 10,400 ng/mL, respectively. No other drugs of abuse nor ethanol were found in blood and urine specimens. Pubic hair analysis revealed a frequent past exposure to U-47700. Finally, U-47700 was identified as the main component of the powder and the liquids contained in the nasal spray bottles. The combined circumstantial elements and toxicological results of the case revealed the occurrence of an acute intoxication produced by U-47700 abuse. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first fatal intoxication case reported on the Italian territory involving the synthetic opioid U-47700.
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science
3
12%
Medicine and Dentistry
3
12%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences
2
8%
Social Sciences
2
8%
Other
2
8%
Unknown
9
35%
Attention Score in Context
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 5. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 15 October 2018.
All research outputs
#7,168,134
of 26,304,916 outputs
Outputs from Frontiers in Pharmacology
#3,135
of 20,200 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#110,889
of 342,675 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Frontiers in Pharmacology
#62
of 397 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 26,304,916 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 72nd percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 20,200 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 5.4. This one has done well, scoring higher than 84% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 342,675 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 67% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 397 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 84% of its contemporaries.
