Estimating the postmortem interval by the difference between oxidant/antioxidant parameters in liver tissue

• Published in: Advances in clinical and experimental medicine : official organ Wroclaw Medical University Vol. 21; no. 6; pp. 727 - 733
• Main Authors: Sener, Mustafa T, Suleyman, Halis, Hacimuftuoglu, Ahmet, Polat, Beyzagul, Cetin, Nihal, Suleyman, Bahadir, Akcay, Fatih
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Poland 01.11.2012
• Subjects: Animals; Antioxidants - metabolism; Linear Models; Liver - metabolism; Male; Oxidants - metabolism; Postmortem Changes; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Time Factors
• ISSN: 1899-5276

So far the authors could not find any published paper that shows the presence of a possibly significant relationship between oxidant/antioxidant parameters and time of death. This study sought to investigate whether the differences between the levels of endogenous parameters like Superoxide dismutase (SOD), Malondialdehyde (MDA), Glutathione peroxidase (GPx), Glutathione S-transferases (GST), Total glutathione (tGSH), Catalase (CAT) and Nitric oxide (NO) have a relationship with the early postmortem interval (EPI). A total of 60 Albino Wistar male rats weighing between 220-230 grams were obtained. The rats were divided into six subgroups (n = 10), fed at room temperature (220C) and then decapitated. The livers of the dead rats were extracted at intervals of one hour and biochemical examinations were performed and biochemical results obtained from the animal groups had been evaluated. The authors performed linear regression analysis in order to search for factors predicting the time of death. The time of death was taken as a dependent variable with SOD, MDA, GPx, GST, GSH, CAT, and NO as independent variables. This model resulted with a high predictive value (adjusted R square = 94.0%). SOD, GST and NO were found to be significant factors independently affecting the prediction of the death time. In conclusion, the results obtained from the experiment showed that the oxidant and antioxidant parameters are important for estimating the EPI.