A Study of p53 Expression in Thermal Burns of Human Skin for Determination of Wound Age

Abstract

Early expression of p53 protein in thermal burns of guinea pig skin has been reported. This study sought to determine if expression occurred in thermal burns of human skin and if immunohistochemical demonstration of p53 protein could be utilised to distinguish ante-mortem from post-mortem injuries as well as indicating the age of a lesion in the living subject. Biopsy samples were obtained from live patients and post-mortem examinations. Immunohistochemistry was used to demonstrate the presence of p53 protein. Staining was assessed by field counting of epithelial cell nuclei. In live subjects there was a tendency for early (six hour to five day) expression, with peak levels occurring around one to two days. Late samples (13 to 23 days) demonstrated minimal or no expression. In contrast, burn wounds from post-mortem examination demonstrated greater staining for p53 protein in the late (28 to 77 day) samples than in the early ones. It appears that expression of p53 protein may assist in the ageing of ante-mortem, but not post-mortem, burn wounds. This implies that results obtained from live subjects may not be applicable to post-mortem material and that any putative method for determining the age of a wound should be tested in both situations.

A Study of Burns for Wound Ageing reveals Changes in Unburnt Skin with Implications for Future Research

“…Histological sections were cut for immunohistochemical staining. (The material has also been utilised in a previously published study (Tarran et al, 2004)). …”

Forensic Impact of the Omics Science Involved in the Wound: A Systematic Review

“…The three proinflammatory cytokines proved to be useful markers for determining a lesion onset interval of up to a few hours. The first increase in reactivity could be noted for IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α, almost simultaneously after 15 ± 20 min, their expression changing after ∼1 ± 1.5 h. (31,44,45,53,62) were excluded because they do not place the appearance and/or quantification of a marker on a timeline about the age of the wound.…”

“… Summary of reactivity of age biomarkers respect to time after skin injury. Five studies ( 31 , 44 , 45 , 53 , 62 ) were excluded because they do not place the appearance and/or quantification of a marker on a timeline about the age of the wound. …”

Fibronectin EIIIA splicing variant: A useful contribution to forensic wounding interval estimation

“…An accurate determination of wound interval is significantly helpful for suspicion range restriction in crime investigation. Traditional research areas of wound age estimation concentrate on the later post-traumatic period in an interval of days, among which many parameters [1][2][3] are testified feasible. Recently more and more report on early wounding interval estimation can be found [4,5].…”