OBJECTIVE: To investigate and analyze the changes of postmortem human biochemical indexes. METHODS: Subclavian venous blood samples were collected from 81 cases of traffic fatalities. Thirteen blood biochemical indexes including liver function (ALT, AST, TBIL and DBIL), renal function (UA and Cr), cardiac function (CK, CK-MB and LDH), electrolytes (K+, Na+ and Cl-), and glucose (GLU) were tested by Roche cobas c311 automatic biochemical analyzer. The descriptive analysis was made by SPSS 17.0 statistical software. RESULTS: The values of ALT, AST, CK, CK-MB, LDH and K+ were higher than normal reference values with more fluctuations. The values of TBIL, DBIL, UA, Cr, Na+, Cl- and GLU were relatively stable with less fluctuations. CONCLUSION The postmortem human blood biochemical indexes of liver function, renal function, cardiac function, electrolytes and glucose could be affected by the factors, especially hemolysis and autolysis. The biochemical indexes, particularly enzymes, increased significantly with higher standard deviation.
Accidents, Traffic/mortality* ; Autopsy ; Blood Chemical Analysis/methods* ; Heart Function Tests ; Humans ; Kidney Function Tests ; Liver Function Tests ; Reference Values

OBJECTIVE: To explore the changes and rules of biochemical markers in serum of guinea pigs after death caused by hypothermia and to provide references for fatal hypothermia diagnosis by serum biochemical markers. METHODS: Twenty guinea pigs were randomly divided into experimental group and control group. The guinea pigs in the experimental group were kept at -30 °C until death, while the ones in control group were decapitated after same survival intervals at 25 °C. The serum was extracted from the whole blood of right ventricular immediately. Subsequently, a series of serum biochemical markers were analyzed by auto bio-chemical analyzer. RESULTS: The levels of glucose, uric acid, creatinine and urea nitrogen in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in control group, respectively (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the levels of total protein and albumin were significantly lower in the experimental group (P<0.05). There were no significantly differences of the levels of other markers such as serum enzymes and ions observed between the two groups. CONCLUSION There are characteristic changes of some specific serum biochemical markers in fatal hypothermia, which may be potentially useful for auxiliary diagnosis of fatal hypothermia.
Animals ; Biomarkers/blood* ; Cause of Death ; Guinea Pigs ; Hypothermia

OBJECTIVE: To observe the chemical groups changing in rat kidney with regard to fatal hyperthermia by Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy (FTIR-MSP) and to provide a new method to diagnose fatal hyperthermia. METHODS: Rats were sacrificed by hyperthermia, brainstem injury, massive hemorrhage and asphyxiation and divided into groups. The renal samples were dissected immediately after death. The data of infrared spectroscopy in glomerulus were measured by FTIR-MSP. RESULTS: The absorbances of 3290, 3070, 2850, 1540 and 1396 cm(-1) significantly increased (P < 0.05), and the ratios of Al650/A3290 and A1650/A1540 significantly decreased (P < 0.05) in group of hyperthermia. CONCLUSION FTIR-MSP can analyze the changes of chemical groups of kidney as an auxiliary diagnosis for discriminating hyperthermia with other causes of death.
Animals ; Fever/mortality* ; Fourier Analysis ; Kidney/metabolism* ; Microspectrophotometry ; Rats ; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared/methods*

A comprehensive HPLC-DAD-MS method was developed to study the chemical components of semi-bionic extract of Coptis-Evodia herb couple. The extract was isolated on a Hypersil BDS C18 column (4.6 mm x 200 mm, 5 microm) using acetonitrile-ammonium formic buffer as mobile phase by gradient elution. Detection was performed on DAD and MS equipped with an electrospray ionization (ESI) source by full scan and product full scan on positive mode. The chromatogram of Coptis-Evodia showed seventeen main peaks, eight of which were from Evodia while the others were from Coptis. By comparison of the retention time, the on-line UV spectra and MS spectra, four peaks were identified as jatrorrhizine, hydroxevodiamine, palmatine and berberine, and three peaks were deduced as epiberberine, columbamine and coptisine. In addition, berberine and palmatine were quantitatively determined. No new component was created in the semi-bionic extract of the herb couple, yet the solubilities of berberine and palmatine decreased.
Berberine ; analogs & derivatives ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Berberine Alkaloids ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Coptis ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Evodia ; chemistry ; Plant Extracts ; chemistry ; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization

This paper analyzed the limitation of electronic sphygmomanometer based on oscillometry, and according to the characteristics of pulse signal, the author proposed a new method of the characteristic parameter detection based on wavelet transform, and improved its recognition ability on fixed-scale, via resampling rate according to the heartbeat. And the prototype test has been proved that this method is more adaptability for individuals and stability for operation.
Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory ; instrumentation ; Individuality ; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted ; instrumentation

OBJECTIVE: To develop a STR analysis method for analyzing DNA from stained tissue sections and to evaluate the capability of this protocol in forensic application. METHODS: Eight kinds of HE stained human tissue, for example heart, liver, lung and intestine, were collected from two autopsy cases. The genomic DNA from those tissues was extracted using a QIAgen kit. DNA quantitation was performed using the TaqMan PCR method. The concentration of DNA isolated was determined based on Ct values. Internal positive controls (IPC) were used to monitor inhibitors. DNA amplifications were performed using Identifiler PCR Amplification kit. PCR products were analyzed on 3100-Avant Genetic Analyzer. RESULTS: The concentrations of DNA obtained from all samples were greater than 1 ng/microL. PCR inhibition was not observed. However, DNA degradation, potentially due to the effect of residual formalin fixative, was observed among tissue samples stored for long periods of time. CONCLUSION Sufficient amounts of DNA were extracted from HE stained tissue sections. STR profiles were successfully generated. The number of genotype alleles detected decreased as sample storage time increased.
Alleles ; Cadaver ; DNA/genetics* ; DNA Fingerprinting/methods* ; Female ; Forensic Genetics/methods* ; Genotype ; Humans ; Liver ; Lung ; Paraffin Embedding ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Specimen Handling/methods* ; Staining and Labeling ; Tandem Repeat Sequences

The combination use of dexamethasone and calcium gluconate can be applied to hypersensitivity. Severe hypokalemia is a usual complication of dexamethasone and calcium gluconate therapy, which occurs frequently with therapeutic use. Fatal cases, accidental and intentional, occur frequently in forensic practice. The current case report presented a 43-year-old man with diabetes mellitus with infection, to whom dexamethasone and calcium gluconate were administered in the private clinic. With the development of such clinical symptoms of severe hypokalemia as quadriplegia, he was confirmed to have severe hypokalemia through a biochemical test before dying of arrhythmia. And also it presented pathophysiologic mechanism underlying severe hypokalemia as well as suggestions for clinical practice regarding combination use of dexamethasone and calcium gluconate.
Adult ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents/adverse effects* ; Calcium Gluconate/adverse effects* ; Dexamethasone/adverse effects* ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Fatal Outcome ; Humans ; Hypokalemia/chemically induced* ; Male

OBJECTIVE: To establish standardized methods and parameters of the isolated heart coronary angiography through the experiment of in vitro porcine heart by MSCT. METHODS: Based on different perfusion volume (50, 60 and 70 mL) and different perfusion-imaging time (5, 10 and 20 min), the in vitro porcine coronary artery was injected liposoluble and water-soluble contrast agents using remodel angiography equipment and scanned by MSCT. And the 3D image results were compared. The images were recorded and evaluated by 2 radiologists and analyzed by statistical software. RESULTS: Liposoluble contrast agent affected the images by damaging and infiltrating the fats around the coronary artery, while the water-soluble contrast agent didn't affect the images. The groups with 60 mL or 70 mL perfusion and 5 min perfusion-imaging time had the best images. CONCLUSION The suitable parameters of the angiography lay the foundation of postmortem coronary angiography.
Animals ; Coronary Angiography/veterinary* ; Coronary Vessels/diagnostic imaging* ; Heart ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional/methods* ; In Vitro Techniques ; Multidetector Computed Tomography/veterinary* ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Software ; Software Validation ; Swine

Postmortem chemistry is becoming more and more essential in routine forensic pathology and has made considerable progress over the past years. Biochemical analyses of vitreous humor, blood, urine and cerebrospinal fluid may provide important information in determining the cause of death or in elucidating forensic issues. Postmortem chemistry may be essential for the determination of cause of death when morphological methods (diabetes mellitus, alcoholic ketoacidosis and electrolytic disorders) cannot detect the pathophysiological changes involved in the death process. It can also provide many information in other forensic situations, including myocardial ischemia, sepsis, inflammation, infection, anaphylaxis and hormonal disturbances. The most recent relevant research advances on glucose metabolism, liver function, cardiac function, renal function, sepsis, inflammation, infection, anaphylaxis and hormonal aspect are hereby reviewed.
Anaphylaxis ; Autopsy/trends* ; Biomarkers/analysis* ; Body Fluids/chemistry* ; Death ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Forensic Pathology/methods* ; Humans ; Postmortem Changes ; Sepsis ; Vitreous Body