Messenger RNA (mRNA) profiling in post-mortem human tissue might reveal information about gene expression at the time point of death or close to it. When working with post-mortem human tissue, one is confronted with a natural RNA degradation caused by several parameters which are not yet fully understood. The aims of the present study were to analyse the influence of impaired RNA integrity on the reliability of quantitative gene expression data and to identify ante- and post-mortem parameters that might lead to reduced RNA integrities in post-mortem human brain, cardiac muscle and skeletal muscle tissues. Furthermore, this study determined the impact of several parameters like type of tissue, age at death, gender and body mass index (BMI), as well as duration of agony, cause of death and post-mortem interval on the RNA integrity. The influence of RNA integrity on the reliability of quantitative gene expression data was analysed by generating degradation profiles for three gene transcripts. Based on the deduced cycle of quantification data, this study shows that reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) performance is affected by impaired RNA integrity. Depending on the transcript and tissue type, a shift in cycle threshold values of up to two cycles was observed. Determining RNA integrity number of 136 post-mortem samples revealed significantly different RNA qualities among the three tissue types with brain revealing significantly lower integrities compared to skeletal and cardiac muscle. The body mass index was found to influence RNA integrity in skeletal muscle tissue (M. iliopsoas). Samples originating from deceased with a BMI > 25 were of significantly lower integrity compared to samples from normal weight donors. Correct data normalisation was found to partly diminish the effects caused by impaired RNA quality. Nevertheless, it can be concluded that in post-mortem tissue with low RNA integrity numbers, the detection of large differences in gene expression activities might still be possible, whereas small expression differences are prone to misinterpretation due to degradation. Thus, when working with post-mortem samples, we recommend generating degradation profiles for all transcripts of interest in order to reveal detection limits of RT-qPCR assays.

To investigate the question what happens to the tissue lost at the entrance wound, experimental studies were performed on composite models consisting of dyed pig skin and gelatin blocks. For the test shots to the skin-gelatin preparations, cartridges calibre .38 spec. with different bullet types (round nose, hollow point, flat nose, truncated cone) were used. In all shots, a multitude of coloured skin particles were macroscopically discernible along the bullet tracks. In addition, small cell aggregations could be demonstrated microscopically even in those sections of the bullet paths which did not show skin fragments visible to the naked eye. The distribution of the skin particles showed certain peculiarities depending on the type of projectile.

This paper presents analytical results of cardiovascular drugs that were determined in exhumed liver and brain tissue in a total of 115 cases. Exhumations were executed after 9.5–16.5 years of burial. Analysis was performed by solid phase extraction and liquid chromatography–electrospray mass spectrometry. Bisoprolol, verapamil, and xipamide could be proven in all cases in which these were supposedly administered within a defined time frame. Amiodarone was detectable in over 90%, amlodipine in over 80%, and cafedrine, clonidine, phenprocoumon, and torsemide in over 50% of relevant cases. By contrast, atropine, esmolol, furosemide, hydrochlorothiazide, and lisinopril were found in less than 50% of relevant cases, but nifedipine and nitrendipine were not detectable at all. The percentage of positive results for liver and brain tissue for the relevant administered drugs and corresponding postmortem periods are presented per analyte. Neither time since death nor stage of degradation was a reliable predictor of the success rate, as exemplarily shown for furosemide. The presented data may serve as a reference when deciding whether to exhume a corpse for forensic‐toxicological examinations in comparable cases.

A man committed suicide in his bathroom using a small pocket knife. At the autopsy a total of 92 stab wounds on the forehead, in both temples, the anterior aspect of the neck, the back of the neck, the chest and the sides of the trunk were found. In addition, repeated stabbing had caused a large soft tissue defect on the forehead. The frontal bone showed 3 perforations but no brain injury was present and two ribs were severed in the bony part, one of which carried a star-like pattern from repeated stabbing. No major vessels were injured and the cause of death was exsanguination after a considerable survival time. The large number of stab wounds, the perforation of bone and some injury sites, especially the head and back of the neck, are extraordinary findings in suicides which were probably favoured by insufficient anatomical knowledge and the use of a short-bladed knife. A psychiatric history could not be verified.

: The autopsy rates in Germany are frighteningly low compared to other European countries. Considering the dramatic decline of clinico-pathological autopsy rates the role of the post-mortem examination as a control of clinical medicine and death statistics cannot be fulfilled properly. The low medicolegal autopsy rate is responsible for the high number of undetected non-natural or violent deaths.