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Histobiochemical changes in early postmortem interval in liver, pancreas, skin and kidney of adult male albino rats

Bewertung der histologischen und biochemischen Veränderungen in Leber, Bauchspeicheldrüse, Haut und Niere erwachsener männlicher Albinoratten im frühen Postmortem-Intervall

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Abstract

Determining the time that elapsed since death to solve suspicious death circumstances and help criminal investigations is very important in forensic medicine. This study aimed to evaluate the early postmortem changes. It correlated the results of oxidative stress markers with the histological and immunohistochemical examinations of the liver, pancreas, skin, and kidney of adult male albino rats. The study included 30 adult male albino rats housed in wire mesh cages and ad libitum access to water at room temperature (22–25 °C). Rats were divided into five groups (n = 6) for acclimatization over 1 week. All rats were sacrificed following anesthesia and organs (liver, pancreas, skin, and kidney) were obtained by dissection at 0 (control), 8, 24, 48, and 72 h. The postmortem interval correlated with tissue levels of malondialdehyde, reduced glutathione and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) with hematoxylin and eosin, immunohistochemical and anti-p53 antibody for p53 protein detection, which regulates cell cycle and death. The analyzed oxidants, antioxidant stress markers, and LDH in different tissues showed significant changes in the current study depending on the time elapsed since death. Histological changes showed time-dependent variations. Gradual autolysis and loss of cellular structure, shape, and arrangement due to postmortem anoxia were observed in addition to oxidative stress conditions of different tissues and LDH release until 72 h after death. The combination of biochemical, histological, and immunohistochemical changes may be useful supplementary parameters in the early postmortem interval forensic evaluation.

Zusammenfassung

Die Bestimmung der seit dem Tod verstrichenen Zeit ist in der Rechtsmedizin sehr wichtig, um verdächtige Todesumstände aufzuklären und kriminalistische Ermittlungen zu unterstützen. Ziel dieser Studie war die Bewertung der frühen postmortalen Veränderungen. Die Ergebnisse der Marker für oxidativen Stress wurden mit den histologischen und immunhistochemischen Untersuchungen von Leber, Bauchspeicheldrüse, Haut und Niere erwachsener männlicher Albinoratten korreliert. In die Studie wurden 30 erwachsene männliche Albinoratten eingeschlossen, die in Drahtgitterkäfigen untergebracht waren und bei Raumtemperatur (22–25 °C) ad libitum Zugang zu Wasser hatten. Die Ratten wurden für eine einwöchige Akklimatisierung in fünf Gruppen (n = 6) aufgeteilt. Alle Ratten wurden anästhetisiert und eingeschläfert, und die Organe (Leber, Bauchspeicheldrüse, Haut und Nieren) wurden nach 0 (Kontrolle), 8, 24, 48 und 72 h seziert. Das postmortale Intervall korrelierte mit den Gewebespiegeln von Malonaldehyd, reduziertem Glutathion und Laktatdehydrogenase (LDH) mit Hämatoxylin und Eosin, immunhistochemischen und Anti-p53-Antikörpern zum Nachweis des p53-Proteins, das den Zellzyklus und den Tod reguliert. Die analysierten Oxidantien, antioxidativen Stressmarker und LDH in verschiedenen Geweben zeigten in der aktuellen Studie signifikante Veränderungen in Abhängigkeit von der seit dem Tod verstrichenen Zeit. Die histologischen Veränderungen zeigten zeitabhängige Schwankungen. Allmähliche Autolyse und der Verlust der Zellstruktur, -form und -anordnung aufgrund der postmortalen Anoxie wurden zusätzlich zu den oxidativen Stressbedingungen in verschiedenen Geweben und der LDH-Freisetzung bis 72 h nach dem Tod beobachtet. Die Kombination aus biochemischen, histologischen und immunhistochemischen Veränderungen kann nützliche zusätzliche Parameter bei der forensischen Bewertung des frühen Postmortem-Intervalls sein.

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Acknowledgements

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Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Kasr Alainy Street, 11562, Cairo, Egypt

    Fatma Nada Khalifa & Asmaa Mohammad Moawad

  2. Department of Histology and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Kasr Alainy Street, 11562, Cairo, Egypt

    Sara Adel Hosny

Authors
  1. Fatma Nada Khalifa
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  2. Sara Adel Hosny
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  3. Asmaa Mohammad Moawad
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Correspondence to Asmaa Mohammad Moawad.

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Conflict of interest

F.N. Khalifa, S.A. Hosny and A.M. Moawad declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethical standards

This experiment followed the international guidelines for use and care of laboratory animals after approval by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), Cairo University (CU-III-F-14-21).

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Availability of data and material

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. Data will not be shared with public access.

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Khalifa, F.N., Hosny, S.A. & Moawad, A.M. Histobiochemical changes in early postmortem interval in liver, pancreas, skin and kidney of adult male albino rats. Rechtsmedizin 32, 374–385 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00194-022-00565-1

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