A new model for the estimation of time of death from vitreous potassium levels corrected for age and temperature

Zilg, Brita; Bernard, Samuel; Alkass, Kanar; Berg, Sören; Druid, Henrik

doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2015.07.020

Cited by 68 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…6b), and the equation for estimation of PMI was constructed: PMI(h) = −0.55 + 1.66 × C K + (coefficient of regression = 0.791). The results confirmed the strong relationship between vitreous potassium levels and PMIs, which has a great agreement with earlier studies 37, 38 . It was worth mentioning that there was a linear rise in vitreous potassium concentration with advancing PMI, which was first described by Sturner in 1963 2 .…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 93%

Estimation of postmortem interval by vitreous potassium evaluation with a novel fluorescence aptasensor

Ding

Guo

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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Estimation of postmortem interval (PMI) is a central role in medico-legal identification. Analysis of vitreous potassium ions (K+) concentration is frequently used by forensic workers to estimate PMI. This paper describes interdisciplinary research to introduce fluorescence sensing techniques into forensic medicine. On the basis of silver nanoclusters (AgNCs) probe stabilized by DNA, a simple and highly sensitive fluorescence aptasensor has been proposed to selectively detect K+ ions. The linear range for K+ ions was found to be 0.1 nM-1 mM, with limit of detection of 0.06 nM. Moreover, 63 vitreous humour cases within 36 h after death were further studied to verify the utility of K+ ions in estimating the PMI. By the fluorescence aptasensor method, a new formula was built to determine the postmortem interval based on K+ ions concentration: PMI(h) = −0.55 + 1.66 × CK +(r = 0.791). And the real significance of this research was demonstrated by additional 6 cases with known PMIs. In comparison with the conventional method, the presented aptasensor strategy is cost-effective and easy in measuring vitreous K+, which may be potentially a better way for estimation of PMI in medico-legal practice.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 93%

Estimation of postmortem interval by vitreous potassium evaluation with a novel fluorescence aptasensor

Ding

Guo

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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“…Regarding age, the differences in muscle protein degradation may be attributed to either the presence of developmental isoforms in young or often pronounced muscle wasting (i.e., sarcopenia) in the very old subjects [ 32 ]. Interestingly, an analysis of the postmortem rise in vitreous potassium levels also demonstrated that subjects below 18 and over 80 years substantially deviate from the age groups in between [ 33 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Postmortem muscle protein degradation in humans as a tool for PMI delimitation

et al. 2016

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Forensic estimation of time since death relies on diverse approaches, including measurement and comparison of environmental and body core temperature and analysis of insect colonization on a dead body. However, most of the applied methods have practical limitations or provide insufficient results under certain circumstances. Thus, new methods that can easily be implemented into forensic routine work are required to deliver more and discrete information about the postmortem interval (PMI). Following a previous work on skeletal muscle degradation in the porcine model, we analyzed human postmortem skeletal muscle samples of 40 forensic cases by Western blotting and casein zymography. Our results demonstrate predictable protein degradation processes in human muscle that are distinctly associated with temperature and the PMI. We provide information on promising degradation markers for certain periods of time postmortem, which can be useful tools for time since death delimitation. In addition, we discuss external influencing factors such as age, body mass index, sex, and cause of death that need to be considered in future routine application of the method in humans.

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“…changes in biological tissues, leading to the establishment of the field called "thanatochemistry" [4]. In this field, many efforts are directed towards biochemical examination of different body fluids such as vitreous humor (VH), cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), pericardial fluid and synovial fluid [5][6][7][8] because they are readily available at a crime scene or during autopsy. However, few studies on PMI estimation are based on blood sample although it is commonly used in forensic toxicology.…”

Section: Numerous Chemical Techniques Have Been Proposed In Charactermentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of postmortem biochemical changes in rabbit plasma using ATR-FTIR combined with chemometrics: A preliminary study

Wang

et al. 2017

Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectros

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Postmortem interval (PMI) determination is one of the most challenging tasks in forensic medicine due to a lack of accurate and reliable methods. It is especially difficult for late PMI determination. Although many attempts with various types of body fluids based on chemical methods have been made to solve this problem, few investigations are focused on blood samples. In this study, we employed an attenuated total reflection (ATR)-Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) technique coupled with principle component analysis (PCA) to monitor biochemical changes in rabbit plasma with increasing PMI. Partial least square (PLS) model was used based on the spectral data for PMI prediction in an independent sample set. Our results revealed that postmortem chemical changes in compositions of the plasma were time-dependent, and various components including proteins, lipids and nucleic acids contributed to the discrimination of the samples at different time points. A satisfactory prediction within 48h postmortem was performed by the combined PLS model with a good fitting between actual and predicted PMI of 0.984 and with an error of ±1.92h. In consideration of the simplicity and portability of ATR-FTIR, our preliminary study provides an experimental and theoretical basis for application of this technique in forensic practice.

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A new model for the estimation of time of death from vitreous potassium levels corrected for age and temperature

Cited by 68 publications

References 52 publications

Estimation of postmortem interval by vitreous potassium evaluation with a novel fluorescence aptasensor

Estimation of postmortem interval by vitreous potassium evaluation with a novel fluorescence aptasensor

Postmortem muscle protein degradation in humans as a tool for PMI delimitation

Characterization of postmortem biochemical changes in rabbit plasma using ATR-FTIR combined with chemometrics: A preliminary study

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