Spectrophotometric Determination of Trimethylamine-nitrogen in Cadaver Tissues for the Estimation of Late Postmortem Interval: A Pilot Study
- Author:
LIU QIAN
1
;
CAI XIANGYANG
;
LIU YAN
;
ZHOU LAN
;
YI SHAOHUA
;
LIU LIANG
Author Information
1. Faculty of Forensic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology,Wuhan 430030,China
- Keywords:
forensic medicine;
postmortem interval;
spectrophotometry;
trimethylamine-nitrogen;
spoilage product
- From:
Journal of Huazhong University of Science and Technology (Medical Sciences)
2008;28(6):630-633
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
To study the relationship between the late postmortem interval (PMI) and trimethylamine-nitrogen (TMA-N) in postmortem tissues of cadaver, TMA-N in muscles, livers and kidneys of rats was measured at different postmortem intervals (PMD by using a modified spectrophotometric method. The results indicated that the detection sensitivity of TMA-N was 1 mg/L, and there was a good linear correlation between the value of absorbance (A value) and TMA-N at the concentration of 1-10 mg/L (R2 =0.9991). Although TMA variation in muscles was different from that in inner organs during the time since death, TMA-N changes in cadaver tissues was positively correlated with PMI. During 2 to 7 d since death, the best correlation between PMI and TMA-N concentration was found in muscles.With PMI as an independent variable, the cubic polynomial regression equation was y= --0.457x3+6.519x2-24.574x+27.207 (R2=0.969). During 3 to 8 days since death, PMI was best correlated with TMA-N concentration in inner organs. With PMI as the independent variable, the cubic polynomial regression equation was y=0.509x3-9.153x2+55.727x-95.819 (R2=0.953). It was concluded that TMA-N in tissues could be used as a new estimator for late PMI. The method used in this study offered advantages such as accuracy, sensitivity, little samples required and wide PMI estimation.
