Methodological approaches to screening of narcotic and potent medicines in biological objects

The society nowadays is being exposed to constant high toxicological stress. The expanding range of substances people use in their daily life, a growing drug addiction rate, newly developed highly active medicines, environmental and man-made disasters, the chemicals used to commit acts of terror, the progress of chemically-induced diseases – all these result in a steady increase in the number of poisoning cases. The detection of toxic substances in the body of someone who suffered poisoning is the leading area in diagnosing disease of chemical origin. Apart from clarifying the diagnosis, important is to identify the indications for hospitalization, the choice of the detoxification method, as well as that of the antidote therapy. Given that, chemical and toxicological studies aimed at the detection, identification, and quantification of a wide range of toxic substances in objects of biological origin are relevant and enjoy respective demand. This paper offers a comparative analysis of preliminary research methods, as well as extraction from internal organs, of biological fluids and physical evidence to be taken into account through chemical and toxicological analysis carried out to detect medicinal, narcotic substances and metabolites thereof. The research objects here were blood, urine, bile, internal organs, brain from human corpses of males and females, aged 21 to 65, with different causes of death, as well as physical evidence (residue of medicines). The results of this study can be used to select methods for detecting toxic substances at the stages of forensic chemical examination.