Intralipid as a matrix additive for evaluating hyperlipidemic postmortem blood.

The article focuses on the impact of hyperlipemia—defined as turbidity in blood samples due to lipoprotein accumulation—on postmortem toxicological analysis, particularly regarding the quantification of benzodiazepines and sedative drugs. The study compares the use of Intralipid, a lipid emulsion, and pooled authentic postmortem lipids as matrix additives to simulate hyperlipidemic conditions in bovine whole blood samples. Results indicate that increased lipid content reduces analyte recoveries, especially for certain hydrophilic and lipophilic compounds, and that isotopically labeled internal standards often fail to fully compensate for these losses. While both Intralipid and pooled postmortem lipids affect analytical outcomes, Intralipid provides a controlled, drug-free means to mimic hyperlipidemic samples and may be useful for method development and validation in forensic toxicology laboratories.