Temporal fatty acid profiles of human decomposition fluid in soil

Lühe, Barbara von der; Fiedler, Sabine; Mayes, R. W.; Dawson, Lorna

doi:10.1016/j.orggeochem.2017.06.004

Cited by 13 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Organic markers have been shown to be useful in the identification of body decomposition (Dawson 2017;von der Lühe et al 2013von der Lühe et al , 2017. Several main stanols in the samples examined were detected, this were: coprostanol, epicoprostanol, cholersterol, 24-ethylcoprostanol, 24-ethylepicoprostanol, campesterol, B-sitostanol/stigmastanol.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of soil following a police-led open area search and the recovery of a cold-case homicide grave

Donnelly

Cassella

Pirrie

et al. 2019

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The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting and correction before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the book series pertain. Although reasonable efforts have been made to obtain all necessary permissions from third parties to include their copyrighted content within this article, their full citation and copyright line may not be present in this Accepted Manuscript version. Before using any content from this article, please refer to the Version of Record once published for full citation and copyright details, as permissions may be required.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of soil following a police-led open area search and the recovery of a cold-case homicide grave

Donnelly

Cassella

Pirrie

et al. 2019

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“…Understanding patterns and processes of mammalian decomposition has important forensic applications. Forensic taphonomy research often focuses on using patterns of decomposition to improve estimates of postmortem interval (PMI) or time since death estimations (e.g., Carter and Tibbett, 2003 ; Tibbett and Carter, 2003 ; Metcalf et al, 2013 ; Pechal et al, 2013 ; Hauther et al, 2015 ; Johnson et al, 2016 ; von der Lühe et al, 2017 ). Because of challenges in obtaining, and/or restrictions on use of, human cadavers, many forensic taphonomy studies use animal carcasses as proxies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative Decomposition of Humans and Pigs: Soil Biogeochemistry, Microbial Activity and Metabolomic Profiles

et al. 2021

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Vertebrate decomposition processes have important ecological implications and, in the case of human decomposition, forensic applications. Animals, especially domestic pigs (Sus scrofa), are frequently used as human analogs in forensic decomposition studies. However, recent research shows that humans and pigs do not necessarily decompose in the same manner, with differences in decomposition rates, patterns, and scavenging. The objective of our study was to extend these observations and determine if human and pig decomposition in terrestrial settings have different local impacts on soil biogeochemistry and microbial activity. In two seasonal trials (summer and winter), we simultaneously placed replicate human donors and pig carcasses on the soil surface and allowed them to decompose. In both human and pig decomposition-impacted soils, we observed elevated microbial respiration, protease activity, and ammonium, indicative of enhanced microbial ammonification and limited nitrification in soil during soft tissue decomposition. Soil respiration was comparable between summer and winter, indicating similar microbial activity; however, the magnitude of the pulse of decomposition products was greater in the summer. Using untargeted metabolomics and lipidomics approaches, we identified 38 metabolites and 54 lipids that were elevated in both human and pig decomposition-impacted soils. The most frequently detected metabolites were anthranilate, creatine, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, taurine, xanthine, N-acetylglutamine, acetyllysine, and sedoheptulose 1/7-phosphate; the most frequently detected lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine and monogalactosyldiacylglycerol. Decomposition soils were also significantly enriched in metabolites belonging to amino acid metabolic pathways and the TCA cycle. Comparing humans and pigs, we noted several differences in soil biogeochemical responses. Soils under humans decreased in pH as decomposition progressed, while under pigs, soil pH increased. Additionally, under pigs we observed significantly higher ammonium and protease activities compared to humans. We identified several metabolites that were elevated in human decomposition soil compared to pig decomposition soil, including 2-oxo-4-methylthiobutanoate, sn-glycerol 3-phosphate, and tryptophan, suggesting different decomposition chemistries and timing between the two species. Together, our work shows that human and pig decomposition differ in terms of their impacts on soil biogeochemistry and microbial decomposer activities, adding to our understanding of decomposition ecology and informing the use of non-human models in forensic research.

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“…The formation of adipocere is a postmortem process where fats such as triglycerides and storage fats are converted into saturated fatty acids which may stall decomposition processes [36]. These studies [34‐35] assist in the understanding of the significant effect of BMI on postmortem estimations for the validation data and also for Test Set‐1 (BMI: 45.2‐48.4) and Test Set‐2. (Mass: 72.6‐181 kg) and illustrate how PMI in subjects with higher BMI or mass might be under‐estimated.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Body mass or BMI that is high will have fats that may take longer to break down potentially causing an under‐estimation of PMI. Von der Luhe et al [35] reported that adiopocere formation may promote the preservation of human fatty acids in a CDI. The formation of adipocere is a postmortem process where fats such as triglycerides and storage fats are converted into saturated fatty acids which may stall decomposition processes [36].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Estimating postmortem interval for human cadavers in a sub‐tropical climate using UV‐Vis‐near‐infrared Spectroscopy

Aitkenhead‐Peterson

Fancher

Alexander

et al. 2020

Journal of Forensic Sciences

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Estimating postmortem interval (PMI) of surface found skeletal remains is challenging. This novel study used UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy to scan soil collected from cadaver decomposition islands (CDIs) ranging from 15-to 963-d postmortem and control soils. A decomposition product spectra model (DPS model) was constructed by deducting the control soil spectra from the CDI soil spectra for the estimation of postmortem indices: PMI (d), ADD 4 , ADD 10 , and ADD 20. The DPS model (n = 55) was calibrated and subjected to a full cross-validation. Calibration R 2 and RPD for the DPS model ranged from 0.97 to 0.99 and from 6.1 to 9.9, respectively, for the four postmortem interval indices. Validation R 2 and RPD for the DPS model ranged from 0.73 to 0.80 and from 1.9 to 2.2, respectively. The DPS model estimated postmortem intervals for three test CDIs in a clay soil under perennial grassland (test set 1; n = 3) and six CDIs in a sandy soil under a loblolly pine forest (test set 2; n = 6). Test set 1 had PMI prediction ranges from −69 to −117 days, −796 to +832 ADD 4 , +552 to +2672 ADD 10 , and −478 to −20 ADD 20 of observed PMI. Test set 2 PMI prediction ranged from −198 to −65 days, −9923 to +2629 ADD 4 , −6724 to +1321 ADD 10 , and −2850 to +540 ADD 20 of observed PMI. Test set 2 had poor predictions for two CDIs, for all measures of postmortem indices resulting in discussion of sampling depth, effect of body mass index (BMI), and scavenging.

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Temporal fatty acid profiles of human decomposition fluid in soil

Cited by 13 publications

References 44 publications

Analysis of soil following a police-led open area search and the recovery of a cold-case homicide grave

Analysis of soil following a police-led open area search and the recovery of a cold-case homicide grave

Comparative Decomposition of Humans and Pigs: Soil Biogeochemistry, Microbial Activity and Metabolomic Profiles

Estimating postmortem interval for human cadavers in a sub‐tropical climate using UV‐Vis‐near‐infrared Spectroscopy

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