In this paper, 17 autopsy cases of poisoning by toxic plants: mushroom 4, xanthium sibiricum 3, trichosanthes kirilowii 2, aconitum chinense 3, tripterygium wilfordii 1, gelsemium elegans 1, nerium indicum 1, pachyrhizus erosus 1, dioscorea simulans 1 were reported (accident 15, suicide 2). Emphasis was put on analyses of the selective injured locations, namely, target organs or tissues, which were poisoned by these poisonous plants. The machanisms of poisoning and causes of death were approached based on the pathological changes. The associated problems of forensic medicine were discussed summarily. On the basis of author's experiences, it is essential for medicolegal examination and expertise that the body should be systematically, completely, forensic-pathologically inspected and the species of questioned poisonous plants should be identified by the associated expert. Poisoning by toxic plants is one of often contacted and difficult problems in medicolegal expertise, so that we should pay attention to it.

Gap junctions construct hydrophilic trans-membrane channels which adjust the intercellular communication of chemistry and electricity. In the heart, individual cardiac myocytes are linked by gap junctions. These junctions form low resistance pathways along which the electrical impulse flows rapidly and repeatedly between all the myocardium, ensuring their synchronous contraction. In recent years, some researchers have found that connexins, the protein molecules of gap junction channels, are reduced in number or redistributed from intercalated disks (ID) to lateral cell borders in a variety of cardiac disease, especially in ischemic heart disease. The gap junction remodeling is considered to be arrhythmogenic. These findings will lead us to a new realm in the diagnostic of sudden death caused by coronary heart disease.
Animals ; Cell Communication/physiology* ; Connexins/metabolism* ; Coronary Disease/complications* ; Death, Sudden/etiology* ; Gap Junctions/metabolism* ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Myocardium/pathology*